Disarm
by kelsey731
Summary: The killer in me is the killer in you. Finnick/OFC
1. Chapter 1

_Wake up._

Her eyes flew open and blinked a few times, adjusting to the light pouring in the open window. The house was silent, as always, and she debated simply closing her eyes and falling back into sleep. But the recurring dream of her name being called out, just her name, something so seemingly innocent, kept her from doing so.

It was Reaping Day.

Renata Kelde groaned quietly as she sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and sighing. The same dream every night before the reaping for the past 5 years… It was still unnerving, despite never having been chosen as tribute, but one never knew what would happen. It was still a couple years away before being truly safe, before her name would be taken out from the other pieces of paper. She sighed again and looked at the window, seeing the sun beams coming in. People were out in the streets, doing business early so they could get ready later on. The bed creaked as her weight left the iron frame and the young woman went to the window, leaning her arms on the window frame and feeling her back pop. There were less people out than usual, and barely any children. Probably all cooped up at home, being drilled on how to handle the reaping... A fresh group of 12 year olds would be in the ball, and they had just as much of a chance of being picked as the rest of the children in District 4. In every other district. Shops were still open and people were still shopping, but that unmistakable air of anticipation was hanging thick in the air, a dark cloud foreboding what was to come.

She pulled herself away from the window, scratching at her head of frizzy red hair as she picked up the discarded dress from the night before and pulled it on. Her footsteps were light on the floor of the small kitchen, despite dragging her feet just a bit. A deep, demanding growl rumbled from her stomach, but the pantry was overlooked and she slipped on her shoes at the front door.

Outside, the sunshine was bright and Renata took a deep breath, letting the warm air fill her lungs before she blew it out.

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" A male voice asked as she passed a shop.

The redhead smiled at him and nodded, "Maybe they'll cancel the big event."

He just laughed and shook his head, going back to his business.

Something about today felt so…familiar. As if she were still lying in bed, eyes closed, lost in a dream. She continued walking the street, past all the shops, the rows of houses, the docks where men were hauling in loads of fish, until finally she reached a small sandy beach. Maybe it was ridiculous to come out here today of all mornings, but something inside her was expressing the need for a swim. Shoes were abandoned as soon as she stepped onto the beach, the warm sand squishing between her toes. The sun beat down against her pale skin when she pulled off her dress and let it fall in a heap. She stepped forward and then jumped into the water. The cold water overtook her and she opened her eyes, looking around at her underwater surroundings. Sinking quickly, her feet touched the bottom and quickly pushed off it, shooting her to the surface. A grin spread across her face and she took a breath, diving under again and swimming down to the bottom. On the ocean floor were a cluster of white water lilies, so tightly knit together that it appeared to be a carpet of flowers. One around the edge detached easily from the others and Renata brought it up to top, letting it bob on the surface of the water. The petals of the flower seemed to open and close as the waves rocked it back and forth, giving the illusion that the flower was breathing. Fascinated by this, she gently stroked one of the petals and then gasped as something pricked the end of her finger. A tiny white crab emerged from its shelter and raised its little claw at her, angry that this girl had relocated his home.

"Sorry," she murmured, sticking her finger in her mouth and sucking on the stinging tip. Satisfied that this girl seemed to know that it meant business, the crab went back inside the flower and she watched as the water carried it away from her, off into deeper ocean. That's when she noticed the boat going in towards the docks.

The boat's horn blared and she watched it slowly pull up and tie down, several men getting off of it and emptying their cargo from the deck. She could taste the salt on her lip as she bit it softly, remembering when her father's boat had docked and he wasn't on it.

_ "Renata?" A big man kneeled down in front of her, a strange look on his face. "My name is Cecil… I was on the boat with your father..."_

_She remained quiet, looking up at him with expectant blue eyes._

_ "We were caught in the middle of the storm, and…a wave overtook us, we lost the cargo," he explained, finding that telling this to a 13 year old was difficult. "Your dad's leg got caught and he got pulled over with it…he drowned, Rini... I'm so sorry..."_

Renata turned away from the boat, finding the water a bit too cold for her liking now. She thrashed her arms frantically, dragging herself out of the water and into the sand.

_The small child stood quietly as she was presented an award for her father's death, something to remember him by…to honor him. She felt Cecil put a hand on her shoulder, trying to reassure her as the mayor thanked her for being so brave. First losing her mother before she had a chance to know her, and then having her father taken away from her all too soon…An orphan, no one's child, taken in out of pity into a stranger's home._

It wasn't out of grief that she had cried that day. Her father had resented her from the moment she was born. Through his eyes, she had essentially murdered the woman he loved. So he raised his wife's last "gift" to him, but begrudgingly so. She was left alone most of the time, while he was out at sea, so she learned to live that way. When Cecil had taken her in, she found herself living with 5 complete strangers who wouldn't leave her by herself, which she had so desperately wanted. They were afraid the poor orphan girl would go mad, letting herself think about her dead parents. Oh no, she hadn't cried out of grief. It was of relief more than anything. As soon as she had turned 16, she pleaded that she be allowed to live alone. Eventually getting what she wanted, she moved into a tiny little hut of a place, and managed to earn a bit of money for herself by helping the seamstress. A year of doing so, and she concluded that it was a hell of a lot better than living off of other people.

She stood up and brushed away the sand that clung to her skin and retrieved her clothes, pulling them on and heading back towards town. Her cheeks stung with the promise of a sunburn and she sighed quietly. Time was moving faster than usual, it seemed, forcing her to get home sooner than preferred. It was all about presentation to the Capitol. Keeping up appearances. Putting on a good show. Wear a nice dress, brush the knots out of your hair, doll yourself up to stand and watch two people from home get sentenced to death. All for sport. What a sick joke.

The streets were practically deserted on the walk back, except for the few squads of Peacekeepers. She swallowed nervously when passing them, her feet automatically breaking into a bit of a jog once rounding the corner. Finally making it back safely home, she closed and latched the door and leaned her forehead against it. Her stomach growled with hunger, warning that if it was denied food any longer, it would be sure to make her pay. Even so, the pantry was ignored as she crossed the kitchen. Something else was festering inside her, growing in intensity as the clock ticked closer and closer to the reaping. A sense of dread that couldn't be easily dismissed.

Renata's hands shook as she pinned back some long curls, shivering as the ends tickled her bare back. A pale green dress replaced the worn grey one from earlier and she stepped in front of the small mirror in her bedroom. Her reflection came as a bit of a surprise; it was never what her eyes expected to see. Sometimes she still felt like that little 12 year old, not this…stranger.

Wide, empty blue eyes took up a great deal of her sunburned face; her small, twitchy nose resembled that of a mouse…she smoothed out the material of the dress, giving up when deciding that it wouldn't take any other form than a frumpy sack.

Once back out on the street, she joined a crowd of people all headed towards the center of town. Lines had formed at a couple of registering stations and further through towards the Justice Building; she could see the stage set up, with the two glass orbs filled with the names of every child in the district.

"Give me your hand, please," A peacekeeper instructed.

Renata swallowed and extended her arm, wincing in pain as she pricked her fingertip that the crab had pinched earlier. "Renata Kelde" flashed on the screen, confirming her identity and the woman smiled.

"Good luck," she said cheerily as the girl brushed past, heading for the section in the crowd for the 17 year olds.

"Nervous?" A friend from school asked, wringing her hands together.

Renata shrugged, watching everyone file in. "It's just routine by now…"

The girl was silent for a moment, murmuring something to herself.

"What?"

"I said that our names are in there six times this year," She whispered, her face twisted with fear.

"Six times isn't a lot…look around at the rest of us…they've got their name in the draw just as much as we do," the redhead tried to console her, reaching out and giving her arm a gentle squeeze. "You'll be fine, Cora!"

Even as the words left her mouth, she felt her stomach twist into a knot – a painful one that caused her to double over and clutch her hands against it.

"Renata? Are you alright?" Cora asked in alarm.

The girl didn't answer, for her nightmare came back to her like a gunshot to the brain.

"_Renata Kelde," a ghostly whisper said in her ear, causing goose bumps to appear on her arms. "Step forward…"_

_On legs that felt like rubber, Renata walked up the endless stairs onto the stage that overlooked what must have been District 4 and several other districts put together._

_A man stood up next to her, grinning ear to ear. His eyes were empty holes in his face. "Congratulations," he laughed, slapping her on the back._

_Her head turned from side to side, looking for the male tribute, but no one was called and the crowd cheered on. "What about a boy?"_

_The eyeless man laughed again and shook his head. "There is only you. You were born to die…" His unnerving laugh started up again and soon the crowd was thundering with the same laugh._

_The stage started trembling, gently at first, but soon the magnitude of the quakes had Renata clinging to the lip of the stage for dear life._

"_Renata," that whisper came again. "Renata…"_

_A large tremor sent her flying off the stage and she was falling. Falling far, far down… The crowd was gone now and replaced by a dark abyss. It swept whatever breath she had out of her and she was forced to fall in silent anguish. A light appeared at the bottom, growing bigger as she fell faster and faster still. It was water! The ocean! There wasn't time to try and draw a breath before the water overtook her, the consistency nothing like water. The surface moved further and further away from her as she was dragged to the bottom by something she could not see. She looked down when something grabbed her wrist and her eyes bugged out when her father's bloated hands encircled her throat. Pressing, squeezing, tighter and tighter. Darkness formed around the rims of her eyes, overtaking more of her vision as her father's hands tightened like a vice grip around her windpipe._

"Renata!" Cora exclaimed, kneeling on the ground next to her friend.

She gasped, snapping out of the attack and looking up at the blonde girl. "Wh-what?"

"Are you alright? You just froze up and fell over!"

"I…I, yeah…I'm alright," the woman whispered, swallowing and realizing that everyone around was staring at her. "I just…didn't eat breakfast is all…"

Cora made a face but didn't question the redhead as she gave her a hand up, not saying anything about her shivers.

The crowd all murmured in displeasure when the microphones turned on and feedback rang through the square. A man with blonde hair twisted into a halo on top of his head stepped out onto the stage, a huge grin spread across his face.

"Welcome to the 73rd annual Hunger Games!" His cheery voice chirped into the microphone. He introduced himself as Salvatore Hume and gave his well-rehearsed speech on how what an honor it is to be chosen to represent the district and that he wishes each and every one has a Happy Hunger Games. "Shall we pick the lady first?" he asked with a little merry chuckle, going to the glass orb and making a frivolous wave of his hand as he dug into the slips of paper.

Renata clutched onto Cora's arm for support, eyes bugging out of her head as she waited for the name to be read. This man wouldn't get on with it; every movement had to be grand and extravagant. She suspected that he was excited to be the representative of a career district and wanted to cherish every second.

Sweat formed on her palms, on the back of her neck as Salvatore made it back to the microphone, still grinning about a mile wide.

"Drum roll, anyone?" he laughed, clearing his throat and unfolding the paper.

The slip crinkled in the microphone, projecting across the square.

Renata closed her eyes, her knees trembling as she struggled to take a step forward. Somehow, she knew. The dreams, this feeling in her chest, it was all too much.

Salvatore's voice rang out, confirming her suspicions. "Renata Kelde!"

**What do you think so far? Reviews are very appreciated! Thanks for reading! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Silence.

Someone's arms were around her, holding her tight. Fingers tangled in her hair, stroking her curls in attempted comfort.

This didn't feel real…

Was she dreaming?

"Renata, it's okay…You'll be okay," Cora's voice suddenly registered in her ears, bringing her to reality. The blonde had tears streaming down her face and her hands held her face.

She was the female tribute. She was going to fight her way out against 23 other tributes.

Cora whimpered as she finally let go of her and she began to approach the stage. The crowd parted for her as she made the short distance to the stage, her heart pounding loudly in her ears. It all seemed so surreal. She had never thought about what it would feel like to be sentenced to death before…

"How about a nice round of applause for Miss Renata? Yes, right up here…careful on the stairs," he laughed, leading the mild applause for the woman as she tripped her way onstage.

Renata swallowed, this situation reminding her so much of her persistent dream. She looked at Salvatore, expecting him to lose his twinkling green eyes for two empty holes in his face. When it didn't happen, Renata turned her head back out towards the square, looking out at the people standing in the crowd and feeling her hands shake with fear. Every face that stared up at her held a different expression. Some she couldn't read, but mostly there were looks of pity. Not even a glimmer of hope for the poor girl… She even saw the look of envy on a few of the older girls' face. Being a victor of the games meant being set for life... If she were to win, she would want for nothing. Renata swallowed and tore her eyes away from the girls. Hey, if they wanted to volunteer for her, they would be doing her a favor. But nonetheless, no one volunteered. Something caught the sun and her eyes shifted to a camera that was fixed on her. She stared at it a moment and managed a small smile, trying to stand a little taller and pretend to be more confident of herself for everyone in Panem that would see this later.

Salvatore's voice rang out suddenly, startling her. "Kain Farber!"

There was the sound of quiet cheering from the boy's section towards the back of the square. A tall, burly looking boy came through the crowd, headed to the stage in a much more confident matter. He flashed Renata a grin when he made it onto the stage without tripping. Show off.

"Shake hands," Salvatore hissed in instruction, making the two face one another. His nose was slightly wrinkled, not used to the smell of fish on the wind.

The redhead looked into Kain's brown eyes and took his hand, not surprised by the roughness of his palm or the firmness of his grip. His hands could easily crush her; it wasn't hard to tell that he had the upper hand against her…

"Good luck," he smiled.

"And to you," she nodded, releasing his hand and turning away from him before the blush could register on her cheeks.

"Let's give your district 4 tributes a hand!" Salvatore exclaimed into the microphone, beaming for the cameras. "We wish you the best of luck, and as always, may the odds be ever in your favor!" He moved behind the two children and nudged them forward a bit. The boy didn't hesitate in raising his arm and waving at the people, that confident and almost cocky grin on his tanned face. Renata tried to mimic him, but only succeeded in a feeble little gesture and a nervous smile. She could practically hear the amused voices of the commentators talking about her.

The two tributes turned and followed Salvatore through the doors of the Justice Building, hearing Panem's anthem blaring out of the speakers. Once inside, Renata was separated from Kain and Salvatore and ushered into a small room by a couple Peacekeepers. Everything was happening in such a whirlwind, it made Renata's head spin. She blinked when the Peacekeeper said something to her. "What?"

"The train is leaving in 10 minutes. You have 3 to say goodbye," he repeated, stepping aside as Cecil hurried in.

"Rini!" he gasped, going to her and crushing her in a hug. She didn't hesitate in throwing her arms around him and hugging him back as equally tight. If she owed anyone anything, it would be Cecil. He had taken her in his own home without question, when he could have let her go to an orphanage or out on the streets. Someone sounded like they were choking and after a moment, Renata realized that the noise was coming from her own throat. She held onto Cecil tightly as she cried, taking comfort in being held.

"Shhh…shhh, I've got you," Cecil whispered, his own voice quavering. He really did care for Renata, while his wife wouldn't even come say goodbye. "Listen to me…you can do this. You can come back, Rini. I believe in you…you're so strong, stronger than you know…" he gently stroked her cheek, wiping a stray tear away. "Trust yourself, and do whatever it takes to stay alive."

Renata whimpered quietly, taking a shaky breath and swallowing. "You really think so? Did you see Kain? He was…he was hoping he would get picked…"

Cecil pursed his lips, gently wiping away another tear. "Some people are like that, you know…but all that cocky attitude…it won't keep him alive when he needs it to. You're smart, and you're a survivor…" He leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers, taking a breath. "Take this with you. You'll have home with you; you'll have me, and Leona, and Polom, Aria, and Vic…"

She sniffled again as he put a little length of rope around her neck, a phial of sea water on the end. There was a tiny bit of sand on the bottom and even a small pinch of seaweed inside.

"Thank you," she whispered, blinking out another tear. Fear was settling in now, but it was bearable. Cecil's token was exactly what she needed to know that she was cared for, that she was being rooted for. "Thank you for everything, Cecil. You'll tell Leona and the kids that I love them and that I'll see them soon?" She asked, clutching the phial in her hand.

"I promise," he nodded, giving her cheek a loving pat. "We love you…"

The door opened and the Peacekeeper announced that time was up.

Renata put her arms around Cecil's shoulders and held onto him tightly. "Thank you, th-thank you so much..." She let go of him, not wanting to cause trouble and gave him a weak smile. "I'll see you soon, right?"

Cecil swallowed and nodded, smiling back. "Real soon." The door closed behind him and Renata was once again left alone in the room.

She went to the small window on the far wall and peered out of it. The town square was practically deserted now; everyone had gone home to celebrate the fact that their children and friends were safe for another year. The glass was cool against the red skin of her face as she pressed her cheek against it and closed her eyes, wishing more than anything that the day could be over and that she could sleep. Her hand was still holding the glass tube and she opened it to look at it. Everything stirred around when she rolled it in her palm, but then settled back down. Footsteps approached her door and the hinges creaked as it swung open, the footsteps stopping after entering the room.

"Time to go," a stern man's voice said.

Renata opened her eyes and turned to face him, taking slow and cautious footsteps toward him. He simply gave her a stiff nod before turning around and walking out, which she assumed that meant for her to follow.

"Your face is red," came Kain's voice from beside her. He looked like he hadn't shed one tear. "Are you embarrassed or something?" he grinned, not ashamed to flex a bicep for her.

Renata looked up at him and laughed softly. "No, not embarrassed, just sunburned…"

He grinned wider and scratched at his neck. "I don't burn anymore. I don't think I ever burned. You can't tell me you've never been out on a boat, you're from 4!"

She shrugged, finding it a little awkward striking up a conversation with this boy. "A couple of times…nothing like what you've done, I'm sure."

This boy had a never-ending supply of grins for her. "Been on boats my whole life! I really hope the arena is like an ocean or something, wouldn't that be cool? We'd have a bit of the upper hand…"

"There you are! We'd best be off before the train goes to the Capitol without us aboard!" Salvatore greeted them. He led them down a long staircase and they stepped onto a platform, a long train waiting for them. "Here we go! Say goodbye!"

Renata looked back the way they came, the hiss of the train filling her ears.

"Come on, come on!" Sal urged her, snapping her back to reality. The doors closed behind her when she stepped onto the train and it began to pull away. She turned and peered out the window, watching home disappear in a matter of minutes.

"You alright?" Kain asked, standing by the short redhead's side and watching her face. "It's a bit strange leaving, isn't it?"

She swallowed and looked up at him, trying to get a reading on him. "Hopefully one of us will get to come back," she said, chewing on her lower lip and grasping the vial of seawater around her neck.

"Come on, Rini," he said gently, her nickname coming as a bit of surprise from him. He held out his big, weathered hand for her and smiled when she took it. "I heard that man call you Rini, is that okay?"

She nodded, letting him lead her into the next car. "So what, we're going to the Capitol now?"

"I think our mentors are going to explain it to us," Kain smiled.

The train must have been moving at some great speed, but if it weren't for Renata seeing the landscape whizzing past them, she would have thought they were standing still. She gripped Kain's hand tightly as they moved from car to car, hearing Salvatore's tinkling laughter as they neared a door into the next compartment.

When the door opened, the escort twirled around to face them, that ridiculous smile on his face. "There you are! I had begun to think that you'd jumped off the train!" Another ringing laugh and he motioned them over.

Kain let go of her hand and instead folded them over his broad chest.

Salvatore cleared his throat, preparing to deliver this very professional introduction. Renata glanced up at the ceiling, surprised when she didn't see bags of confetti prepared to rain down on them.

"You two are fortunate in that you will have two past victors to guide you through your training! Renata and Kain, may I introduce your mentors Mags, and Finnick," he announced, giggling after saying the handsome man's name. His cheeks turned even rosier when Finnick gave him a dazzling grin and he had to excuse himself from the car, mumbling something about having to write the schedule.

Mags made a quiet, cackling little laugh, which made Finnick smile and look at her.

"Pleasure to meet you the both of you," Finnick smiled at the both of them, his sea green eyes lingering a moment on Renata. Or so she thought.

She pursed her lips together, spying the table set up with food behind the mentors. Her stomach growled loudly and she blushed deeply, putting a hand to her stomach.

Finnick laughed, "I think we'd better eat before she starts picking us off, hmm?"

Mags smiled and went to sit down, not waiting to pile up her plate with food. The other three went over and joined her, soon digging in.

"So are you both mentors to us, or are we each assigned to one?" Renata asked after swallowing a mouthful of freshly baked bread.

"I say that the men collaborate, and the women do the same," Kain spoke for the first time, that cheeky grin on his face. He looked at Finnick, to the old woman, to Renata's face. "Makes sense, right?"

He and Renata both noticed the slightly loony smile on Mags' face as she played with the food remains on her plate. She babbled something about recycling bone, making Finnick laugh again.

She was the oldest victor in 4, and adding a pretty strong stroke on top of her age, it had left her a bit absent minded to say the least. It made sense that Kain wanted nothing to do with her. Compared to Finnick, Mags was just a useless old woman.

"Well it's up to you two, I wouldn't mind going at it one on one, or sharing," he winked at Renata, making heat rush to her cheeks.

Ah, Finnick Odair. Not only was he the youngest victor that 4 had, he was quite possibly the most beautiful man in all of Panem. His beauty was one thing that attributed to his victory in the arena, for his number of sponsors practically threw gifts at him.

"I mean, I don't think we need to separate…two victors' help is better than one," the redhead mumbled, picking at the meat on her plate.

Finnick smiled and nodded, watching the young woman play with her food. "Right."

"Could we watch some of the old games? I want to know your strategy," the boy tribute said to Finnick, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

He chuckled and nodded, wiping off his mouth and tossing his napkin onto his empty plate. "Nothing wrong with being eager, right?" He stood, looking at Mags. "Do you want me to walk you to your room?"

The old woman smiled and nodded, letting him help her up.

"Renata, will you join us?"

She blinked and looked up at him, his unbelievable beauty catching her by surprise. "Is that alright? I…Sure," she smiled, standing up. She noticed the scowl on Kain's face and she swallowed, walking over to where he was sitting in front of the television.

Once Finnick disappeared to take Mags to her room, Kain sighed.

"Don't expect me to go easy on you," he said harshly, surprising her with his change of attitude.

So that was it. Lull her into a false sense of security, of friendship, and then take her out. She had hoped that maybe they could team up in the arena, but it was clear where Kain stood.

"Yeah, me either."


	3. Chapter 3

Renata murmured quietly, stirring herself out of sleep. The bed she was in was incredibly comfortable, and she cursed herself for waking up. She turned over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, replaying the night before in her head.

_ "Which year should we watch first?" Finnick asked, coming back to the two tributes. He plopped himself down on the couch beside Renata, letting his knee rest against her leg._

_ "I want to watch your year. I'm hoping the arena will be somewhat like that," Kain murmured, finding the correct tape and putting it in._

_ Renata pursed her lips as the screen lit up and the action began, feeling something change slightly. She looked up at Finnick and saw the look of unease on his face, how he was staring at his lap. This was an entirely different side to someone usually so confident and laid back… "Do we have to? I mean…there are other years with arenas like it…"_

_ Kain whipped around and glared at her, and Renata shut up and pulled her knees to her chest. It was something straight out of hell. The initial slaughter at the Cornucopia, the first night of careers picking off weaker tributes… As the games progressed, more of the Gamemakers' manipulations appeared, adding names to the list of the dead… And of course there was Finnick. The careers had overlooked him in their conquest to kill off the weakest ones first. Meanwhile, he had been weaving traps and getting gift after gift from numerous sponsors. He was beautiful and terrifying with the trident he had been sent, easily capturing and skewering a number of people._

_ "Incredible," Kain muttered, his eyes glued to the screen. "What would you have done if they hadn't sent you the trident?"_

_ "I don't know," Finnick said softly. He fidgeted with his hands nervously, closing his eyes when a girl onscreen gave a bloodcurdling scream before the sickening sound of trident meeting flesh and then she was quiet._

_ "Let's watch a different tape," Renata got up and shut off the tape. She heard Finnick breathe a sigh of relief from the couch, and Kain muttered his displeasure from the floor. "Umm, how about this one?" She picked out a tape and put it in, seeing Kain cross his arms as the second tape came on._

_ "This was the 71st games," Finnick chewed on his lip, watching Renata sit back down and resting his arm on the couch behind her. "I mentored a 13 year old girl that year. Luna…"_

_ The redhead swallowed as she watched the screen, watching the games unfold. A little girl with white hair flashed across the screen, and she bit her lip as she remembered watching these games. The arena that year had been a huge cavern with lots of caves branching off from the main annex, complete with wild animals, traps, and of course, darkness. A hidden camera caught a shot of Luna stepping into a mutt bear trap, nearly chopping her leg off. The little girl's screams sounded so real, so pained that Renata couldn't help but cover her ears to try and block it out. Her tape choice had not been a good one, but then again, there would be someone in every game to grieve for. She looked up at Finnick and swallowed as he looked back down at her with an anguished look on his face._

_ "Do you want to go to your room?" he whispered, his voice shaking slightly._

_ She nodded and glanced back at the screen to see a battered-up man slit the tiny girl's throat. Kain's eyes were on the two of them as they left the compartment._

_ "Awful, isn't it?" he asked softly, walking right beside her. "She was a beautiful little girl, stole everyone in the Capitol's hearts."_

_ Renata smiled a little, hearing a bit of admiration in his voice. "Yours, too?"_

_ Finnick smiled back and nodded. "Mine too…"_

_ She chewed on her lip and reached for the phial hanging from her neck, feeling the coolness of the water against her palm. "Do you still think about it? Being in the arena and…killing those people?"_

_ "Every day," he said quietly, the smile fading from his face. "The arena does something to you…it takes over your mind. Soon it becomes all you know, and then when it's all over…it takes a while to remember that you're not in it anymore, that the nightmares are just nightmares. It's all in the past." That look of unease crossed his face again, and then he blinked and looked at what Renata had her hand wrapped around. "What's that you've got?"_

_ She opened her hand and revealed the little token to him, watching as he rolled it around in his palm and let the sand settle. "My friend gave it to me," she explained, her heart racing a bit faster as a smile made its way on Finnick's face._

_ "It's home," he remarked with that smile, looking into her eyes._

_ She smiled back and felt her cheeks burn. He was so different than she had imagined him to be…_

_ "Do you want me to come in with you?" he offered when they reached her door. He raised his brows and grinned goofily. "I can sing you to sleep if you like, tuck you in, all that…Unless you want your privacy, of course."_

_ Her cheeks burned hotter and she laughed, shaking her head. "Goodnight, Finnick."_

_ "Goodnight, Renata."_

The young woman sighed softly and decided to finally get up, still dressed in her dress from the day before. Passing in front of a mirror, she caught sight of her mane of red curls and decided a shower was needed to get them under control. It stood against the opposite wall and after shrieking from the water being too hot and then too cold, she managed to successfully bathe herself. The chest of drawers in her compartment held many items of clothing and she pulled out a soft, cottony blue dress and pulled it on.

The train cars were quiet, and when she entered the dining car, she saw that Finnick and Mags were already up as well.

A smile lit up his face when he saw her, looking fresh from a shower himself. "Good morning. You look nice. Did you sleep alright?"

She nodded and smiled at the both of them, sitting down across from Finnick. "Eventually, yes. Did you?"

"Too busy having sweet dreams," he shrugged, but there was a hint of a smile on his face. "Sounded like you were having trouble with the shower, I almost busted in to see if someone was beating you up," he winked.

"Well, good thing you didn't," she wrinkled her nose at him playfully, unable to help herself from smiling. They were quiet for a moment and Renata forked a little candied tomato and brought it to her mouth. "Are we almost there?"

"It's still going to be about a day until we get to the Capitol, and then you'll be whisked away to meet your stylists and all that…"

The redhead pursed her lips, slowly moving the food around in her mouth before swallowing. "And then the parade?"

"Good morning!" Salvatore exclaimed, walking into the compartment. He was wearing a powder blue suit with a sparkling red bowtie, and his light blonde hair even sparkled a bit. "How are we this morning? All good?"

"I'm alright," Renata nodded, stifling a laugh at how ridiculous Salvatore looked.

Finnick grinned widely, noticing this. "Yes, very good. How did you sleep, Sal? You get everything all worked out with the schedule?"

He blushed and smiled at the handsome man, nodding. "Yes, I've got it calculated down to the minute, I think. And I slept well! Aren't these accommodations wonderful?"

"Wonderful," the redhead echoed, serving herself another helping of food.

"Is Kain not up yet? I think he must have stayed up all night watching reruns…which reminds me! They should be showing the highlights of the reaping today, shall we watch?"

Finnick looked at Renata and smiled when she picked up her plate to carry to the comfy chairs in front of the television. The screen turned on and Caesar Flickerman's familiar face appeared, giving Panem the usual rundown of the reaping. The camera cut to footage of District One's tributes onstage, both wearing confident and smug smiles on their faces.

"Great," Renata mumbled, and Finnick nudged her in the ribs.

The tributes from District Two were also a sight. The boy was smiling like he had some great secret, and the girl was scowling. Caesar made some remark about how Districts One and Two always had the toughest fighters, and that the audience should keep watch on them. District Three's tributes were a young boy and an older girl, making Renata swallow nervously. This poor boy…he was so little, she knew that he would be picked off easily, probably by one of the careers.

The screen suddenly changed to Renata, and she blushed, watching herself trip up the stairs to the stage. Caesar chuckled, claiming that she was so excited to be chosen that she missed a stair in her hurry to get onstage.

She looked over at Finnick, who looked like he was trying his hardest not to burst into laughter. "Something funny, Odair?"

He pursed his lips together and shook his head, but he finally cracked when he looked at the unamused look on the redhead's face. "Are you sure your name isn't Grace?" he joked, that infectious grin on his face.

"What's so funny?" Kain's voice came from the door. They both looked at him, and Finnick was the one to answer.

"The recaps of the reaping are on. Do you want to watch?"

He scratched his neck and nodded, going and piling a plate high with food before going and sitting in one of the chairs.

"I don't want to watch anymore," Renata murmured, uncomfortable around Kain. "I don't like seeing how tough everyone is and how hopeless I am…"

"You're not so hopeless," Finnick smiled, turning away from the TV. "I bet you can take them even on your worst day! Come on…hit me."

She made a face at him, shaking her head.

"Why? Afraid you'll hurt me? I've been hurt a lot worse, trust me…come on, show me what you've got, Rini." He held out his hand for her to punch into and shrieked when she hit him.

"I'm sorry!" she gasped, putting her hands to her face.

He just grinned, shaking his head. "I was kidding, I'm fine…not bad though," he winked, laughing when he saw her cheeks turn red.

"Let me try," Kain said, appearing beside Renata. "With her."

"Kain? I don't want you two going at it, I can't bring you to the Capitol with injuries," Finnick laughed a bit uneasily. "I can take a beating, though. Come on, give me a punch!"

He squinted his brown eyes at Finnick and then glanced at Renata before turning away and fixing his eyes back on the television.

* * *

"There it is!" Kain exclaimed, jumping up from the table. Renata looked up from her plate and saw the building of the Capitol through the window, looming above the surrounding bodies of water.

"It's so big," she murmured, blinking and standing up to join him at the window. The buildings grew even bigger as the train pulled into the city, and suddenly there were masses of people. At least, she thought they were people.

"What the hell is wrong with them?" Kain asked with disgust.

Finnick was up in between them in a second. "Smile," he hissed before slapping one on his own face and waving at the crowd. If they had been cheering before, it was nothing compared to the excitement they showed at seeing Finnick's face. The women seemed to charge the train, trying to get close to this beautiful man.

"Someone is popular," Kain murmured, that cheeky grin on his face as he looked at everyone.

Renata smiled shyly before going away from the window with red cheeks. A squad of Peacekeepers came on board and brought the two tributes out. They soon were lost in the crowd and she looked back to try and find Finnick, but he was nowhere to be found in the sea of bright colors.

* * *

"Are you ready?" Renata's stylist Fascal asked with a grin. "You two look stupendous!"

Renata looked down at herself, feeling a bit more exposed than she would have liked.

_"You'll be a real live mermaid in the flesh, come to the Capitol!" Fascal had squealed after dressing her in a woven bralet and a long, tight silk skirt. When the light caught the fabric, it shone like fish scales. "You two will be the stars of the parade, I'm sure! Not to brag on my work," he chuckled, and the redhead smiled back._

She did look amazing…otherworldly, almost. Kain looked nothing less than gorgeous as well, with his tanned upper body on display, and a trident in his hand.

"Put this around your shoulders, it's the finishing touch!" Fascal instructed, draping a woven net around both their shoulders.

The two blushed simultaneously and shifted in discomfort, reminded of the wedding tradition in their home district. Kain pursed his lips and shrugged off the net, letting it hang off Renata's shoulders and give her the appearance of a trapped mermaid.

The chariot pulled forward after District Three left the ready room and the sound of hundreds of thousands of people cheering filled the air. She could see such excitement on everyone's faces and before Kain could do so, her arm shot up and her smile was projected on the screens above as the chariot pressed forward to the others. Being cheered for, however sick the Games were, gave her a strange feeling of importance and she couldn't help but smile. It was to get sponsors, after all.

Once Twelve's chariot stopped with the rest of the Districts, President Snow took to the microphone.

"Welcome! Welcome, tributes…we thank you for your courage, and your sacrifice..." he began, his voice sending shivers down Renata's spine. She swallowed as he went on to wish them the best of luck, and a happy Hunger Games, and the chariot pulled them away from the massive crowds and back inside.

"Renata! Kain, that was wonderful! You looked stunning!" Fascal exclaimed as they reunited.

"Really beautiful," Salvatore nodded in agreement, that huge grin on his face.

Mags stood silently beside the blonde, but smiled at Renata when she caught her eye.

"Finnick?" She asked the old woman softly as they headed to their sleeping quarters.

She made a quiet grunting noise, "Business."

Renata gave her a look, wanting her to give her a little more information, but the woman said no more. Her high from the chariot ride was almost worn off completely by the time they made it to the fourth floor and she couldn't think of anything else but this business Finnick was supposedly attending to…was he working to get sponsors already? Dinner went by in a whirlwind, and then she lay down in bed for what seemed like an endless night of tossing and turning.


	4. Chapter 4

By the time Renata made it to breakfast the next morning, everyone was already awake and sitting around the apartment. She rubbed the sleep from her tired eyes, cursing the fact that she hadn't slept very well for her first day of training.

Salvatore and Fascal were seated in front of the television, chirping on and on about how the other stylists' choices of dressing the tributes couldn't compare to Renata and Kain.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," Finnick grinned from his spot at the table as she sat down and dug in to her plate of food. "You look well rested."

She made a face at him and didn't respond, still a bit curious as to why he hadn't been with them at the opening ceremony.

"I know you, and you'll want to get your hands on a weapon as soon as you can," he went back to chatting with Kain, who looked like he had slept soundly. "But I would suggest visiting the other stations first. Survival, you know? Starting fires, identifying edible plants, setting traps, all that… That's what'll come in handy when you get in the arena…plus, you'll have plenty of time to practice with a sword the next week..."

Kain pursed his lips and nodded, eyeing Mags as she walked in and sat down beside Renata. "I don't want the others to think I'm weak," he muttered, looking straight at the redhead and making her blush.

"Trust me, they won't. You'll probably team up with the careers; you'd be an asset… Then take them out when their backs are turned," Finnick grinned.

This didn't seem like the man she'd met on the train at all. She set down her fork with a loud bang on the china, making Salvatore gasp and hiss a warning at her.

"Hey," Mags said softly, setting her hand on top of Renata's and looking at her. Her weathered face was serious, making the young girl blush and look down at her lap. She could feel everyone's eyes on her and it made her face burn brighter.

"Erm, what time are we going down?" Renata mumbled, slowly looking up and putting her napkin on her plate. Mags kept ahold of her hand, gently petting it to keep her calm.

"In a few minutes, so you should probably go get dressed," Kain muttered, standing up and stretching. "Don't want to get there and make a fool of yourself, right?"

She pursed her lips and stood without another word, heading back to her room. A hand on her shoulder stopped her before she could go in and she turned around to see Finnick leaning against the wall.

"Something the matter, Rini? You seem tense," he raised his eyebrows, those sea-green eyes curious.

"I'm not tense," she replied defensively, crossing her arms. She could feel her cheeks burning with embarrassment as Finnick stared at her, waiting for her to go on. "I thought you'd be with us after the parade…I didn't think you'd have business that was more important than seeing us at the tour."

He thought a moment before that smile made its way onto his face. "You're upset because you thought I didn't want to see you? Oh, Rini…you're mistaken. I saw you; I saw the whole thing…"

"Why couldn't you just be there, then?"

"What, are you going to hold this against me?" He laughed loudly, making her blush deeper and scowl at him. "I'll explain later, you nosey girl. Go get dressed."

Renata disappeared into her room and sighed as the door shut behind her. There really wasn't any reason why she should be so angry that he wasn't there…so why was she acting like it was some big crisis? Sighing again, she took a quick shower and dressed in her training clothes marked with a "4" on the back and then put her token from Cecil around her neck before heading back out to the others.

"There you are! Yes, well…have a productive day of training!" Salvatore got up and bustled over to the redhead, putting his hands on her shoulders. He looked like he wanted to embrace her, but restrained himself and just gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze before releasing her.

"Ready?" Kain asked her, standing by the elevator in his identical training get up.

She nodded, stepping into the elevator with him and swallowing.

Finnick stepped in as the doors were closing and Kain huffed quietly, a bit perturbed that they were being escorted down like children. "Remember what I said, alright? Kain, don't go immediately for the sword, hit all the survival stations."

"What about me?" Renata asked as the elevator whirred quietly.

A huge, teasing grin spread across his face, "I think maybe you should learn how to handle a weapon. And learn survival skills…go ahead and hit every station," he winked.

She wrinkled her nose at him and blushed slightly, crossing her arms over her chest as the doors opened.

"See you two later. Good luck," he murmured, his eyes fixated on Renata as they exited the elevator.

* * *

"What's the matter?" Finnick's voice was in Renata's ear.

She turned her head to look at him, her blue eyes wide with surprise. "I didn't hear you come out…Is everyone still up?" She glanced at the glass door leading back into the dark complex before looking back at the man.

"No, it's pretty late…you should be in bed, you know," He smiled, leaning against the railing of the balcony and staring at her face. "How was training?"

"It certainly showed me where I stood in the standing of things," she gave a quiet laugh, shaking her head and leaning her arms onto the railing. They were both quiet for a moment, standing and listening to the sounds of the late night hanging on the wind. "Kain won't have a problem teaming up when we get in the arena…he's incredible…"

"I think you're just selling yourself short, Rini," Finnick murmured, shaking his head. "This pity act won't get you sponsors, or help you when you get to fighting…"

"I'm not trying to get pity!" She exclaimed, shaking her head. "I don't stand a chance against any of them! Why should I even begin to think I could win when it wouldn't matter to anyone? I've got no family; no one really cares if I live or die…It isn't fair for me to live, when someone else who's got someone waiting for them at home…It's selfish…"

Finnick stared at Renata, noticing the tears in her eyes. "I know you're scared," he said gently, reaching out to put his hand on her shoulder. He pursed his lips when she sniffled quietly and wiped her hand under her nose. "It's alright, shhh… Listen to me. I'm going to do everything I can to get you sponsors and keep you alive, but you've got to promise me you'll try. You have to fight, Renata."

She swallowed and looked up at him, gently biting down on her lower lip. "Why? K-Kain has a better chance than—"

"Shh," He whispered, putting a finger to her lips. "Tell me you'll try. I'm going to help you, I promise. You're not alone, okay?" He gently stroked her cheek with a finger and gave a small smile when she nodded. "Now, you come inside…you should get some rest for tomorrow…"

She nodded again and let him lead her back inside the complex. "Did you have more business today?" she asked quietly, stopping outside her room.

Finnick's expression changed and he swallowed. "Yeah, more business today…but don't worry; when you win, you won't be having meetings like I do. I promise."

Renata pursed her lips, a bit confused, but she was too tired to press him for more details. "I'll see you in the morning?" she asked with a small hint of hope in her voice.

"Tomorrow? I'm quite sure I'll see you in my dreams," he winked and nudged her playfully, making her laugh. "Goodnight, Renata."

"Sweet dreams, Finnick."

**Sorry about the wait, school is wrapping up and so I'm tearing out my hair trying to get everything done! I hope you enjoyed this shorter chapter, and please review! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Renata stood straight in the elevator, her mind racing. She had improved considerably at training, thanks to Finnick's encouragement. With a few days of practice with a trainer, she had even managed to learn how to handle a knife!

_"Alright you two listen up," Finnick said as he walked over to the table. "In two days, you're going to evaluated individually in front of the Gamemakers, and they'll give you a score that measures your strengths. Tomorrow, I'm going to have a private training session with the both of you to help you and show you what you need to show off to them," he grinned and sat down, grabbing a bunch of grapes and popping one into his mouth. "Kain, you're first… we'll go down at nine…Rini, you'll meet me down there at eleven."_

Renata swallowed as she stepped into the training room. It wasn't like the other center she'd practiced in the past week, it was…an arena. A light breeze tickled her face as she stepped forward, squinting from the artificial sunlight. Trees towered above her and there was the soft sound of water running…but no sign of Finnick.

_Kain was limping a bit as he got off the elevator. He groaned as he lowered himself onto the couch and Renata could see the dried blood on his arm. "Go on, he's waiting for you," he muttered, turning to look at the redhead._

She pursed her lips, noticing the two platforms spread far away from one another in the middle of a small field, a table in between them. When she approached it, there were two small Taser like objects sitting on top of it. What was this? "Finnick?" she called out. There was no reply, just the soft touch of air against her fair skin.

Suddenly, someone's arm wrapped around her from behind and there was a soft brush of lips against her neck. "Killed you," he murmured before releasing her.

The redhead turned around, her eyes widening at the man before her. He didn't smile, didn't wink or anything of the usual sort. His sea green eyes were intensely fixated on her and his lips were pressed into a line. "K-killed me?" she asked, swallowing.

"This is your training session with me, Renata. We're going to combat against one another to see who survives. We won't actually be killing one another, obviously, but…this is going to give you a small idea of what it's going to be like in the arena." He went on to explain how the weapons on the table weren't real, and how if they were touched against the opponent, it would administer a small shock instead of harming them. "Any questions?" Finnick asked, and Renata shook her head. "Go to your platform."

_"When you enter the arena, you'll have a minute to check out your surroundings. They'll have everything in the Cornucopia of course," Finnick murmured, rubbing the fatigue from his eyes. He'd just gotten back to the complex to find Renata dozing on the couch waiting for him. "Don't worry so much about that, that's how most everyone gets killed…find somewhere you can run to. Run and hide, that's how you'll survive…"_

She stepped onto the platform and turned to face Finnick, a shiver going down her spine at how terrifying he looked. He had the look of utmost focus on his face, and she realized the countdown was to 10 by the time she snapped out of her gaze. Was she supposed to run, or get the Taser? When the countdown ended, her body shot forward and she quickly took one of the weapons and then veered to the left towards the woods. Her heart pounded loudly as she forced herself to run faster and faster, able to hearing Finnick gaining on her. There was no training feel to this at all. Her mind and body were switched into fleeing mode. He pounced on her once she turned a corner and they both crashed to the ground with grunts of pain. His weight was on top of her, pinning her beneath him and her eyes shut tight in anticipation of the pain.

"Rini, goddamnit, hit me!" He yelled, holding the Taser in his fist. He bit down hard on his lip as she opened her blue eyes wide and struggled to get out from underneath him. "Fight harder," he demanded, bringing it closer to her neck. His other hand held down her shoulder, making escape near impossible.

_"Always be thinking of ways to catch an opponent off guard," "If they pin you down, struggle, kick, spit, do whatever you can think of to get them off of you." He smiled over at her gently stroked her exposed shoulders with calloused fingertips. "Or, you could just not ever get pinned," he winked, making her smile._

"Ah!" Renata cried as she grabbed a hold of his wrist and tried to keep him from getting any closer to her skin and looked up at his face fearfully. He was too strong; she couldn't move an inch with him holding her down like this. Thinking quickly, she leaned up and pressed her lips against his, feeling his arms holding her down give up almost immediately. With a difficult shove, she pushed him away and began running again, gaining quite a bit of distance before Finnick recovered. Her mind reeled a bit on what exactly had just happened, but she pushed thoughts away and focused again on fleeing.

Renata approached the trunk of a tree and she jumped up, grabbing ahold of a limb and quickly pulling herself up and scaling up the tree. A glance below her revealed that Finnick had made it to the tree and was advancing on her quickly. He was so fast and so strong, there was no wonder how he had won the games… She could hear his panting breaths get closer and closer until his hand clamped around her ankle and yanked her downwards. This time Renata didn't hesitate in fighting back and she kicked her foot hard, gasping when she heard a sickening crunch and a howl of pain. "Finnick!" she exclaimed, looking down and seeing the blood flowing from his nose.

He shook his head and started climbing even still, his eyes locked on the redhead.

In an act of desperation, she judged the depth of the lake beside the tree they were perched in and then jumped from the tree. The impact of landing into the water took the breath from her and she flailed around a bit, trying to catch her breath. It only took the sound of Finnick entering the water to snap her into action and she glided through the water at incredible speed and ease. Renata swallowed and swam with all her might towards the ledge. She knew that Finnick would be right behind her, both of them being fairly experienced swimmers and she couldn't stop her pace for one second. Her hands made contact with the bank and she hoisted herself up and out of the water. She panted loudly and swung the shocker out, meeting Finnick's throat right as he was surfacing. He froze for a moment, waiting for Renata to shock him. When she hesitated, he tackled her to the ground and tried to pin her down again, but a shock from the Taser knocked him backwards and the redhead climbed on top of him and positioned the weapon at his throat.

"K-killed you," Renata panted heavily, beads of water going down her face and landing onto his broad chest. She swallowed and looked into his eyes, her heart skipping a beat when that charming, boyish grin spread across his face.

"Excellent."

She sighed and dropped the Taser, rolling off of Finnick and lying flat on her back to return her breathing to normal. "Are you…a-are you okay?"

He panted quietly, sitting up and wiping some blood out from under his nose. "This is the second time I've gotten my nose broken today…I have to say, I prefer Kain doing it," he winked at her and then groaned as he reset his nose. "You did fantastic, Renata…really, that was very good. Nice thinking with that kiss, too. Caught me off guard!"

She blushed and nodded, shrugging as she ran her hand over the blades of grass. "It just came to me and I figured I'd try it…" She tried to replay that moment in her head and blushed deeper, figuring that she was reading too much into it. It was in an act of desperation…she'd done it to get him off of her. It had worked, apparently…

"If you wanted a kiss, Rini, you could have just asked," he teased her, seeing the flush in her cheeks. "Alright…I'm ready this time, lay one on me!"

"You'd better watch it unless you want your nose broken a third time," she muttered, standing up and brushing herself off. Her cheeks betrayed her though and Finnick laughed as she stomped towards the exit.

"Whoa! Are you not through with trying to kill me?" He laughed as she pressed the "door close" button over and over as he squeezed through them. He sighed quietly, shaking his head as she kept her mouth shut and faced straight forward.

* * *

"How did they do, Finnick?" Salvatore asked the handsome man sitting across from him.

He grinned, swallowing his mouthful of pudding. "Fantastic! They both had different tactics to their fighting, and they both managed to break my nose…"

Everyone sitting at the table chuckled, the atmosphere quite pleasant.

Salvatore frowned, clicking his tongue. "You take such a beating, Finnick…it's wonderful that they could fix it right up, though and you're still as handsome!" He smiled and blushed when Finnick wiggled his eyebrows at him.

"You broke his nose too?" Kain asked Renata, raising an eyebrow. "I find that hard to believe…"

"I kicked him in the face," she murmured, finishing her cup of pudding and pushing it away.

He pursed his lips and then laughed loudly, shaking his head. "Didn't think you had it in you, Rini…" He sighed and stood up, groaning at the soreness in his muscles from training. "I'm going to bed…goodnight.."

Everyone said their goodnights and Renata watched Kain disappear into his room. He was so strange, it was difficult to get a read on him even still…

"How did Kain do against you?" She asked Finnick, blinking curiously.

He played with the spoon in his dish, thinking. "He's very impulsive... He took both Tasers and tried to get me to flee, but…" He chuckled and shrugged. "He's a very good fighter, he didn't hesitate in breaking my nose, and it's difficult to get him to run away."

The others got up from the table, murmuring their goodnights before leaving the mentor and tribute alone.

"Do you think I could stand my ground against him?" Renata asked after a small silence, looking over at him worriedly. She'd known since the Reaping that Kain was much stronger than she was; that he'd probably had even had a bit of training.

"I know you can," Finnick replied softly, a smile on his lips. "You're just full of surprises…if it comes down to it; I know you'd be the one to come out on top…"

She chewed on the inside of her cheek and nodded, standing up from the table glancing at him. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight…" She turned and headed towards her room, stopping when she felt someone tug at her elbow. Finnick pulled her back to him and wrapped his arms around her, nestling his cheek against her curly hair. She swallowed and rested her head on his chest, wrapping her arms around his middle and holding onto him. They stood in silence, just embracing before he released her and gently tilted up her face to look into her eyes.

Renata's eyes were wide as she stared at him, feeling her cheeks begin to burn. Was he going to kiss her?

He smiled sweetly and grazed his thumb against her cheek, "Sweet dreams, Renata."

* * *

How long had it been since she'd laid down in bed? It felt like hours…She tossed and turned, never getting quite comfortable enough for sleep to find her and she groaned in frustration. She rolled over onto her back and sighed heavily, closing her heavy eyes and willing herself to fall into sleep.

The sound of her door opening and closing made her sit upright, grabbing the blanket in her hands and pulling it up to her chin. "H-hello?" she called into the darkness, thinking for a moment that Kain had come to smother her in her sleep. No one replied to her and she swallowed, jumping slightly when another weight sat down on the bed. "Who—"

"It's alright," A familiar voice purred in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. His lips brushed over her cheek and then began to trail down her neck, eliciting a little whimper from the shocked redhead. The blanket was pulled away from her body and the lips left her neck only to be connected with hers a moment later.

"Finnick," she breathed, her heart racing as she felt his hands wander down to her waist and began to push up her nightgown. The sensation of his rough skinned hands pulling her clothes off caused a stirring in her stomach and head and she moaned quietly as he laid his naked body down on top of hers. Finnick's hands never stopped touching her, caressing the soft skin of her breasts, down her sides, squeezing her hips. The redhead made a quiet grunt of pain as she felt him force his way inside her, but his multitude of kisses and whispers of reassurance helped to distract her. His fingers entangled in her fiery hair and he tugged slightly at it as her fingers dug into his strong shoulders.

"Don't stop," she begged, waking herself from her dream. It was daylight in her room and she looked around in confusion, slowly realizing that it had just been a dream. Her cheeks burned brightly as she looked at the condition she was in. Her skin was hot and sweaty, and her nightclothes were disheveled and soaked through with her sweat. Muttering curses to herself, she quickly stripped and got into the shower, gritting her teeth as the cold water stabbed against her feverish skin like knives.

She squeezed her eyes shut, the effect of her restless night just now hitting her and she swayed a bit, leaning her body against the wall of the shower. In her head, she could hear Finnick's almost teasing voice.

_"Sweet dreams, Renata…"_

**Well this was a faster update than expected! Let me know what you thought please :D**


	6. Chapter 6

"You look awful," Kain muttered through his breakfast as Renata shuffled out of her room and to the dining table. "Like a ghost."

Salvatore stood up and pursed his lips at the state Renata was in, shaking his head and clicking his tongue. "You haven't given Fascal an easy job…Look at those circles…"

She blinked and stifled a yawn, rubbing her tired eyes. It wasn't her fault she was assaulted by relentless dreams of Finnick coming into her bedroom… Speaking of which, the man was nowhere to be seen. Renata looked at Mags questioningly, but the old woman merely patted the seat next to her. She sat down and began picking at the food in front of her, feeling as if she were going to fall face first into the dish and go back to sleep.

A pill was placed in front of her face and she looked up at Sal questioningly before taking the pill from his hand. "What is it?" she asked skeptically, rolling the bright purple pill around in her palm.

"Just something to help you wake up, Rini! It's perfectly safe, I take one every morning!" He grinned, nodding in encouragement. "How else do you think I'm so chipper?"

Renata opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted when Salvatore practically shouted "Good morning!" She looked up and immediately averted her gaze as Finnick walked to the table, his perfect bronzed body covered only by a pair of loose pants. Her dream flashed before her eyes: how his lips felt on her hot skin, his hands, his body on hers…

"Hello?" Finnick asked, waving a hand in front of her face.

"What?" she asked, swallowing before looking up at him.

He raised his eyebrows and let out a low whistle, "Did you not have time to sleep last night, Rini?"

She pursed her lips, unable to stop the blush from spreading across her cheeks. "Too busy having sweet dreams," she finally murmured before looking back down at her plate and downing the purple pill. Almost immediately, she felt the heaviness of her eyes cease and her mind felt much less clouded.

Salvatore smiled when she looked at him and raised his glass to her. "No need to thank me, I know. I'm a lifesaver," he winked.

Renata couldn't help but smile back and nod, finishing her plate and pushing it away.

* * *

"Renata Kelde," A voice came over the intercom.

She blinked and stood, her legs shaking just slightly as she walked towards the opening door. The room was set up with various weapons and stations, as it had been during regular training.

The Gamemakers were talking loudly and laughing with one another as she made her way in front of them.

"I liked that boy, what was his name?"

"Kain. He was very strong, cocky…very likeable. Just wait until the interview; everyone is going to eat him up."

"You can certainly tell he's from 4…He's practically another Finnick!"

"Excuse me," Renata cleared her throat. "Renata Kelde, District 4…" She looked around in a panic, not really sure what she was supposed to do. She moved through a couple stations that were her strong suit, like scampering out a hanging net and showing off her speed. She looked to the men after a few minutes to judge their reaction.

A few of them seemed to have lost interest, going back to murmuring to one another. It was obvious that Kain had blown them away and they had no interest in Renata. She frowned and turned to try something else to impress them when she noticed one man staring at her very intently. His bright blue eyes watched her curiously and his hand stroked his elaborate beard as he nodded for her to continue.

She swallowed and went over to a weapons rack, surveying each one before picking up a knife and then stepping over to a practice dummy. With a few slashes, she made cuts in the neck, the inside of the elbows, and on the inner thighs. It wasn't as impressive as decapitating the mannequin or cutting off its limbs…but she knew that those cuts, on a real person, would guarantee death. Another glance back at the Gamemakers showed that the man with the beard was still watching her. She pursed her lips and stared back at him, realizing after a moment who he was. Seneca Crane was the Head Gamemaker, the brains behind every deal in the arena…why was he so interested in her?

Renata kept her eyes locked with Seneca's as she raised her arm up, the small throwing knife in her hand. She saw his eyebrows raise in interest as she flung the knife towards a human-shaped target and it thudded into the center red zone.

Seneca stared at the target and then back at the woman standing before him, an amused smile pulling up his lips. "You can go," he murmured before turning in his chair.

* * *

"Hurry, they're starting!" Salvatore called, making room for the young woman on the couch. "Are you excited?"

Renata squeezed in beside him and clutched her mug of hot chocolate close. "Kain was a tough act to follow," she nodded at the boy who was sitting forward on the edge of the couch.

He flashed a cocky grin at her. "What's the matter, Rini? They weren't impressed?"

"They were practically asleep," she shook her head and laughed, everyone stopping their chatter when Caesar appeared on screen. The tributes from both District One and Two scored nothing less than a 9, and Renata swallowed nervously. She could only imagine what they did in their evaluations…

"Are you worried, Renata?" a voice purred in her ear and made her jump in her seat.

"Finnick! D-Don't do that!" she stammered, her face turning red. He raised his eyebrows in confusion as he seated himself on the arm of the couch, motioning back to the screen as the score for District Three flashed by.

"From District Four, Kain Farber…" Caesar announced, flipping a paper in front of him.

Kain leaned forward further and Renata thought for a moment that he would topple onto the floor.

"With a score of 11!"

Everyone exploded into cheers and praise for Kain's incredible score, and the boy sighed in relief.

"That's wonderful, Kain," Salvatore gushed, clapping his hands together.

"The female from District Four, Renata Kelde...with a score of 6," Caesar smiled, nodding.

"A six?" Renata repeated, raising her eyebrows. It wasn't the greatest score, certainly not an eleven by any means…but she could have done worse. "A six isn't that bad…"

"Not bad at all," the escort smiled and gave her knee a small squeeze.

Renata nodded and took a sip from her mug, looking up at Finnick. "What do you think?"

He just grinned, shrugging. "It's a…nice score. Doesn't give you justice, I think, but…you'll just have to surprise them, hm?"

She smiled and nodded, finishing her hot chocolate and handing it to an Avox girl that came to retrieve it.

"Now you're in the home stretch, you two…tomorrow is the interview and then you're home free!" Sal smiled, patting the both tributes on the back. "Why don't you get some rest? Especially you, Rini…you don't want to look half asleep in front of Panem, do you?"

Renata chewed on her lower lip, shaking her head. They just had two days before the games really started…where she would be on her own to fight for her life, to go back home… She clasped the vial of water around her neck and closed her eyes, feeling the coolness against her palm. Did she really have a chance of going back?

"Can I help you?" Finnick's voice turned a bit sour and Renata opened her eyes.

She turned around to look over the back of the couch and found two Peacekeepers standing in front of the elevator. Finnick crossed over to them and put his hands on his hips as they murmured to him. One of the men looked over at Renata and motioned to her, causing Finnick to turn back and look at her.

"No. Absolutely not," he growled, anger flashing in his sea green eyes. "Crane knows the rules better than anyone. I won't allow it."

The Peacekeepers muttered something that must have been maddening and Finnick spun around and marched right over to the female tribute. He grabbed her arm and yanked her off the couch, pulling her towards her room.

"Wh-what's the matter?" She sputtered, her eyes wide as he dragged her across the apartment. "Finnick, what's going on?"

"Stay in your room, Renata," he said sternly, almost tossing her inside. "I've got some business to deal with, but don't worry." He took a step closer to her and she swallowed, looking up at him fearfully. "Don't come out until I come get you tomorrow. Don't let anyone in. Promise me?"

She bit her lip and nodded, and then Finnick disappeared out the door. Her room was eerily quiet as she stood still for a few moments. Why was Finnick so angry? And where was he going? To see Seneca Crane? She sat down on the edge of her bed and slowly laid down, staring aimlessly at the ceiling. The Peacekeeper had pointed to her… they wanting to take her somewhere? That's why Finnick seemed so panicked… She blinked and furrowed her brow; What exactly did Seneca Crane want with her?

**Sorry it took so long to update! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and PLEASE review to let me know what your thoughts are! :D**


	7. Chapter 7

"Renata…wake up, Rini…"

She moaned quietly and opened her tired eyes, seeing Finnick sitting on her bed. Sleep seemed to be impossible in the Capitol…at least for her. There were too many things going on…

"What happened last night?" she murmured, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Finnick appeared to have gotten even less sleep than she had; the dark circles under his eyes making them look like they were sinking into his head.

"I went to see Seneca Crane…we had a few choice words, and it's alright now," he smiled faintly.

"What did he want? I know that it had something to do with me, so please tell me the truth…"

He exhaled heavily and scratched his head, glancing into Renata's eyes before looking away again. "You piqued his interest in the evaluation, and he wanted to see you. He wanted your company…do you know what I mean by company, Renata?" His voice sounded strange and he would not hold eye contact with her.

She shook her head, blinking in confusion.

"He wanted your company…as a woman," he struggled to get out, his clenched fists shaking a bit. "It seems that you intrigued him quite a bit…"

Renata's cheeks turned red as she began to understand what he was getting at. "He wanted to…have sex with me?"

Finnick ground his teeth together and nodded solemnly.

"What gives him the right to just send people in here to take me away to be his…his plaything?" she exclaimed, her blue eyes flashing with anger. "I don't…I don't understand…He can't be allowed to just _do_ that, can he?"

"It's all taken care of now, so there's no reason to dwell on it, Rini," Finnick murmured and stood up, stretching his arms over his head. His face softened a bit, seeing the distressed look on the young girl's face. "I told you I wouldn't let you go through the same things I did, didn't I?"

Renata stared at him for a moment, processing his words a moment. "What do you mean, the same things?" She asked quietly.

He froze and his face turned uncharacteristically red. "I promised you, remember?" he said after a small pause. He stared at her until she nodded and then turned and left her alone.

It seemed like a few minutes before Renata got up from the bed and changed into a fresh dress. His words echoed in her head, and she couldn't stop seeing the look of embarrassment on his face. It all made sense now…The nights when he wouldn't come to the complex at all, the moments when she caught him off guard and he looked so…sad. She swallowed and looked at herself in the mirror. What was going on in the Capitol? She always thought that victors of the Hunger Games went hope to live happily and then return only to mentor more tributes…but she appeared to be very wrong.

* * *

"She's the female half of our underwater tributes this year, ladies and gentleman, please give a warm welcome to Renata Kelde, from District Four!" Caesar Flickerman announced.

Renata swallowed before stepping out on stage and she became overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of the Capitol people once again. She smiled and gave the crowd a wave, her eyes searching the people in the audience for any familiar faces. Her smile grew as she spotted Fascal and Salvatore sitting not far from the stage and both of them gave her an excited smile as the cheering quieted down.

"Yes…yes, hello dear, come sit right here with me…" Caesar helped her to her seat and grinned when they were settled. "Renata, Renata, Renata…my goodness, you're looking even more beautiful than you did at the tour!"

She smiled shyly and looked down at her interview dress. Fascal had dressed her in another body hugging ensemble, trying to keep up with the whole mermaid image. "Thank you…Fascal is an amazing stylist," Renata looked out into the crowd and gave the man a warm smile. "It's his genius that created both outfits!"

"Indeed, but you're the inspiration behind his genius, is she not, Fascal?" Caesar called out to him and laughed when he nodded. "Every artist needs his inspiration, Miss Renata…but anyhow, let's get down to things, shall we? Let's take a closer look at you…"

Renata smiled as Caesar stared at her a moment before speaking. "We all were watching The Reaping, but you experienced it firsthand…what was it like when your name was called?"

Terrible.

"Well, I…It felt like a dream, I couldn't believe that I had been chosen…" She shook her head and folded her hands in her lap. "I felt like I was in some kind of fog as I was going up on stage…"

"Yes, we saw that little stumble you had," Caesar chuckled, and the crowd joined in. "But it was very endearing."

Renata blushed a little and laughed along with them. "If I had to use one word…it was…surreal."

"Surreal it was, because your life has changed since then, hasn't it?" He raised an eyebrow. "Were there any tearful goodbyes? Family that wished you luck?"

"Yes…my father saw me off," She answered quietly. Cecil had practically become her father, and he was the only person who had cared enough to say goodbye… "He gave me this for luck," Renata showed him the vial and smiled as Caesar examined it.

"This is very precious to you, isn't it?" He murmured, watching the sand settle before letting it go.

"It is. It's home…" She could hear Finnick's voice in her head as she spoke and she turned to search the crowd for his face. She hadn't seen him since their talk earlier and he wasn't by Sal and Fascal…

"You have another reminder of home here in the Capitol," Caesar interrupted her thoughts, bringing her back to the interview.

"Huh?"

"Kain Farber, your district mate!"

"Oh! Yes, he's a…nice reminder of home too," She laughed and felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. "He's a very tough guy, I was intimidated by him ever since the Reaping…"

"Well with a score of 11, no doubt anyone would not be intimidated by him! But scores aside, how do you feel you'll fare against him in the arena?"

Renata pursed her lips as she thought, not wanting to come off as weak, but not wanting to give herself a death wish with Kain. "It's difficult to say…we'll just have to wait and see what happens," She said with a grin.

Caesar chuckled and nodded, leading a bit of applause for her. "Wait and see, we will…" He sighed, leaning forward in his chair, "Have you gone over any type of strategy, or planned what you're going to do? You won't find out what the arena is until you're in it, but past victors have said that it helped them to have a battle plan…"

"I've been thinking it over, running strategy by Finnick—"

Several gasps came from the audience and were followed by shrieks and females calling out Finnick's name.

"Ah yes, Mr. Finnick Odair…no doubt a skilled mentor to have around," Caesar spoke over the hysterics and quelled it down. "How has he helped you in your training?"

Renata swallowed, her eyes wide as she tried to get her mind under control. She licked her lips nervously before opening her mouth to speak, and then a bright red blush spread across her face.

"I think quite a few of us feel the same way," Caesar laughed, seeing her red cheeks.

"He's a great mentor," She managed to sputter, swallowing again. "He's helped me a lot, and I feel like I could have a chance at winning now…"

"We wish you the best of luck, Miss Renata…and we'll all be watching and rooting for you," He reached over and took her hand. "Ladies and gentleman, from District Four, Renata Kelde!"

She rose from her chair and smiled faintly, waving to everyone before hurrying off stage and brushing past Kain.

"Now join me in welcoming the male tribute from District Four, Kain Farber!" Caesar's voice blared. The audience went nuts for him and Renata watched him strut onstage and flash that cheeky grin to the crowd. "Welcome, Kain, how are you?"

He sighed as they settled into the chairs and nodded, "I'm going to be honest, Caesar…I feel great," he grinned, making everyone chuckle.

Renata huffed quietly, looking away from the screen and walking past the line of tributes from the other districts. She kept her eyes down and forced herself to keep walking.

"How are you finding the Capitol? Is it very different from your home?"

"It's a lot bigger, and much more exciting," Kain replied coolly, leaning back in his chair. "I only wish we could go out and see everything, you know? But it's been nice. The food is excellent," He laughed and patted his stomach.

"Well, Kain, if you win the games, you could no doubt come back and see the Capitol in all its glory! Would we welcome him back and show him a good time, everyone?"

The crowd cheered wildly in response; they were absolutely crazy over the tribute.

"Miss Renata?" A man asked, stopping the redhead before she could get on the elevator. It was a Peacekeeper and she swallowed, taking a step backwards. "If you would come with me…I have orders to take you straight to Gamemaker Crane's apartment."

She felt her blood run cold. Finnick wasn't around to protect her this time, what could she do? "What does he want?" She asked, a slight tremor in her voice.

"I'm to deliver you to Seneca directly," He repeated, taking a step towards her.

"Is there a special someone at home rooting for you?" Caesar's voice came from a speaker hidden somewhere. "A girlfriend, maybe?"

Kain laughed softly and paused before answering. "Well, there's this one girl…and then another…A few…"

"I'm not surprised," he laughed, the crowd joining in with him. "A handsome, strong man like you! Are there a few ladies out there that would like to give Kain a tour of the Capitol?"

Loud, unison screams of excited females answered him.

Renata bit her lip and nodded, letting the Peacekeeper lead her out of the building and onto the streets.

There were projections of the interview around every corner that they turned and Renata kept close to the Peacekeeper. She was in a completely foreign place; she had no idea how to get back to the training center.

"Floor 30," The Peacekeeper murmured to the Avox man inside the elevator.

The ride up seemed like an eternity and when the doors opened on the 30th floor, she felt her legs turn to lead. She looked up at the Peacekeeper for help, but he just nodded.

"Go on, miss."

Renata somehow made it out of the elevator and to the closed door of Seneca's apartment. Her heart pounded in her chest as she raised a shaking hand up and knocked softly on the wood.

Only a moment later did it open to reveal the Gamemaker himself, and he stood aside to let her in before shutting it behind them.

"Please, sit," He gestured to a couch and watched her shuffle to it and seat herself. "You were fantastic in your interview…" He motioned to the television behind him before turning it off with the small remote.

Renata stayed quiet, not sure what she was supposed to say or do. The fabric of her dress felt too tight now, and she crossed her arms, trying to cover herself.

"I wanted you to come last night, but there was a bit of confusion, it seems…I didn't expect Finnick to come in here and attack me," Seneca chuckled quietly, undoing the buttons at the end of his sleeves and rolling them up to his elbows. "But now we're here, and we can talk…"

"Talk?" She repeated, her body feeling tensed up as if she would spring into action at any moment.

"Yes, I wanted to speak to you alone…you see, I'm taking a great chance telling you things that not many people know about…can I trust you, Renata?" He moved from his seat across from her and sat beside her.

She felt her cheeks burn as he stared at her and she nodded slowly.

"There are sometimes circumstances that arise after the Games…there are qualities seen in victors that are…beneficial. Many victors that are deemed as 'desirable' are put up for auction for people in the Capitol."

Renata felt her heart start to beat faster in her chest and her stomach lurched with disgust. "You mean like…prostitution?" she whispered, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Essentially," Seneca replied, stroking his facial hair.

"Is that what you've done to Finnick?" Her voice quivered as she struggled to get the words out.

He pursed his lips and nodded after a moment, "He's our greatest success."

The young woman closed her eyes and looked away, trying to keep herself from getting overly upset. How he could just speak about such horrible things without batting an eyelash was unbelievable. How many past victors had been forced into such awful things?

"Why are you telling me this? Why did you bring me here?" She finally whispered, turning back to look at him.

"There's no doubt that if you come out victorious, the same fate of many will be yours," Seneca murmured. "And well…if that happens, I want to propose something."

"What?" Renata whimpered, her voice breaking.

"Instead of auctioning you off to the citizens, you'd come to me. It'd be an almost ideal situation, I think…instead of many people, it would only be me…you could even live here if you wanted. Have all the luxuries of the Capitol available to you…" He reached up and grazed his fingertips against her cheek and leaned in towards her.

The redhead turned away, feeling his beard tickle the skin of her cheek. "Do I have a choice? Or is this set in stone?"

"Unless there are conditions that make you unable to perform, then this will be your future. You could refuse my generous offer, and be at the mercies of several people. Someone else every night, but always the same thing… I'm offering you something better, Renata. I'm only looking out for your interests…" Seneca murmured, getting up from the couch and going to fix himself a drink.

"Why are you telling me this when there's a big chance that I'll be killed?" Renata stood up and went to the large window wall. The interview was over by now, and the streets were filled with people partying like there was no tomorrow. She swallowed and rested her forehead against the glass, hearing the ice clink in Seneca's glass.

"I couldn't risk waiting until after…you'd already be bid on and I don't want to be second in line," He replied flatly. He sighed and opened the front door, letting the Peacekeeper in. "Go back to the Training Center. You'll need your rest…I never go easy," he smirked as she passed and disappeared into the elevator.

* * *

The walk back to the Training Center was a loud, colorful blur and it was only when Salvatore put his hands on her shoulder that she snapped out of her daze.

"Where on earth have you been? We were worried sick, you aren't supposed to go out into the Capitol!" He yelled.

Renata's lower lip quivered and she sucked in a quiet breath as tears welled in her eyes.

Salvatore froze when the young girl started crying in front of him, her head hung in defeat. "Hey…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, Rini…" He gently patted her shoulder and blushed as she moved forward and wrapped her arms around him. "We were just worried is all…shh, don't cry…it's alright, sweetheart…"

"No it's not," she whispered.

Tomorrow, she would face the greatest danger of all. The arena. She had two options…be killed, or fight to come out as a slave.

**Well! What did you think? I am pretty proud of this chapter, so I hope it pleases! Thank you very much to everyone who has taken the time to review, you give me motivation to keep going! :D I'll try to begin work on the next chapter soon!)**

**-Kelsey :3  
**


	8. Chapter 8

"You should eat _something_, Rini," Salvatore whispered, swallowing as she watched her stare at the usual mountain of food on the table. The young woman had not said a word since she had woken and she had yet to touch any food. The apartment complex was full of anticipation, and an uncomfortable silence hung thick in the air. "You'll need all you can get…" He looked over at Kain, who was taking care to fill his stomach.

"He's right…who knows when you'll get to eat next?" Kain raised his eyebrow at her before looking right back down at his plate.

Renata slowly reached for a sweet roll, bringing it to her mouth and taking a small bite out of it. As she choked it down, she felt her stomach lurch with nausea and she set it down, shaking her head.

"Please," Salvatore begged her in a hushed voice, chewing on his lip. "Kain is right…you're going to have to find food from now on, and you need to keep your strength up…" He watched her pick the bread back up and smiled when she finally ate the entire thing. "That wasn't so terrible, see? Have some of this…"

She sighed as he nudged all sorts of different foods in her direction and she took care to scarf them down before she could taste them, praying that she wouldn't get sick later. She knew that they were both right, and that it was smart to eat.

The night before had shocked her pretty badly and she knew that Salvatore was suspicious about something; he just didn't know what it was. It was best that he didn't know things; she felt he was too innocent to be weighed down with what really went on in the Capitol… Another one of Sal's purple pills woke her up and she could feel herself able to focus a bit better.

"I think it's about time to head down there," The escort sighed and looked at his watch. He stood and the tributes did as well, both dressed identically. He stepped onto the elevator and pressed the button to go to the lowest lever, clasping his hands together.

Kain stood tall and stared straight ahead, not saying a word as they rode down. Renata was still quiet as a mouse, as she had been all morning. Ever since she'd reappeared after the interview the night before, she had this defeated look on her face and her shoulders slumped forward. Salvatore reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, smiling when she looked up at him. It slowly faded when she just stared back at him, having no reason to smile.

When they stepped off the elevator, they were in a huge hangar with a hovercraft waiting for them.

"Alright you two …It was my greatest honor to be your escort, and I wish you the best of luck," Salvatore said, his hands on both their shoulders. "Kain, Renata…farewell," He sighed and squeezed their shoulders.

Kain nodded and walked away, following the other tributes that were getting onto the hovercraft.

"Good luck, Rini," Sal kissed her cheek softly and patted her shoulder before producing a handkerchief from his pocket and quickly turning away to get back on the elevator.

Renata swallowed as she shuffled onto the hovercraft and sat down in an open seat. It was unnerving to sit in such close proximity with the people who would be trying to kill her in only a short matter of time. Once all the tributes had taken their seats, a woman in a white uniform came through, asking them to hold their left arms out.

Her blue eyes grew wide as the woman approached the girl sitting beside her and touched her with some kind of device that rendered the tribute rigid before she stuck a thick needle into her arm. The girl hissed in pain once she could move again and she ran her thumb over the spot where the needle had been.

"Your arm, please," the woman asked Renata. She hesitated before holding out her arm and the most curious sensation overtook her body when she touched the instrument to her. Pain quickly replaced it as the needle punctured her skin and then she could move again.

"It's a tracker," the girl sitting beside her mumbled, still rubbing her arm.

Renata chewed on her lip as she looked over at her, swallowing. She remembered that her name was Averie, and that she was from District Two… "What f-for?"

"So they can see where we are in the arena, make sure we're where we're supposed to be...tracking us," Averie furrowed her eyebrows, as if it were common knowledge.

"Oh, yeah," she muttered, nodding and looking at the metal floor of the hovercraft as they took off towards the launching site. She could feel her breakfast sitting in her stomach like a rock and she risked taking a look at each tribute opposite of her. She locked eyes with the male tribute from District One and she gulped as they stared at one another for a few moments before he smirked and looked elsewhere. Her cheeks burned and she looked at the ground, swallowing back the nervous bile rising in her throat.

* * *

A team of Peacekeepers led each tribute to their launch room, to make sure they didn't try to pull anything and run off, Renata assumed. Her heart was racing as she followed them and her frame trembled with fear. This was it…she was going in. It had all seemed like just a bad reoccurring dream, but now it was here. It was real. She felt tears sting her eyes as they walked around a platform in silence, feeling like she was walking to death row. Now what had her strategy been? Do not trust anyone; it will just make them that much harder to kill. Stay hydrated and stay out of sight and hopefully most everyone will kill themselves.

She didn't want to kill anyone. She didn't want to die.

Her chance of surviving wasn't very high in her mind, and even if she did survive…was it worth it?

"Here you are," one Peacekeeper murmured, stopping at a door. The other nodded towards it and stepped aside so she could go inside. "Good luck," he said when she turned the handle and opened it.

"Thank you." She looked back at them, giving a strained smile. As she turned back forward to go inside, she saw a figure inside. For a fleeting moment she feared Seneca Crane had come to threaten her one last time, but it wasn't. She ran forward into the room and threw herself into the man's arms, feeling him crush her body to his.

"Rini," he whispered in her ear, pulling her closer and feeling her body shake.

"I thought I wasn't going to see you again, Finnick," she said, muffled by his chest. She held onto him tightly, taking comfort in the embrace. "I-I can't do it…"

"Sure you can," Finnick pulled away to look at her face. "I've already got sponsors lined up that can help you, if you'll even need the help…"

She scoffed quietly, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "Can they just take my place?" she joked, swallowing.

He smiled sadly and shook his head, gently thumbing her cheek. "Shhh…there's no use doing any of this…you're going in, you need to focus on that…Survive, that's what you need to worry about."

"B-but I…" She stopped as a voice came through a speaker, telling the tributes that there were two minutes remaining before launch time. She bit her lip hard and took a breath to calm herself. It helped a little, but her hands still shook. "Okay," she whispered, nodding at Finnick.

He went over to a coat rack and pulled off a coat and brought it back to her, helping her into it. "Hey, if I could do it, you can," he winked as he helped her into some gloves, making her smile.

The coat was made of some thick material and it was incredibly warm. So the arena was someplace cold?

"Let's make a bet," Finnick said suddenly. He sat back on the small table in the room, crossing his arms. He chuckled quietly, seeing her eyebrows raise in confusion. "If you win…you have to go out on a date with me!"

Renata's cheeks turned red and she snorted quietly, shaking her head. "And if I lose? You can take my corpse to dinner, I guess…"

"One minute," the intercom announced, and the tube on the far side of the room opened.

Her heart started beating faster and she looked at Finnick with panicked eyes. He was up from the table in a second and his arms were back around her. He pulled back to look at her when she made a gasp. "What?"

"My token!" she wailed, shaking her head. "I-I must have left it…" She was getting very upset very quickly, her eyes ringed with red. "I don't have it, I don't have anything from home!"

Finnick took Renata's face in his hands and he pressed a kiss to her parted lips, feeling her hands rest against his chest. It was so different than what she expected…more than the peck from training with him, and so much different than the hard, desperate kisses she'd dreamt up. Finnick's lips were soft, almost innocent, on hers.

Renata's eyes fluttered open when the kiss ended and she looked up into his sea green eyes. Her lips tingled a bit and she wet them with her tongue. That had indeed just happened. "What was that f-"

"30 seconds."

"Now you have a token from home," Finnick said, smiling as he stroked her cheeks with his thumbs.

Her cheeks flushed and she smiled back at him. "Thank you," she whispered before his lips were against hers once more, another gentle and, for the most part, chaste kiss.

"It's time," he chewed on the inside of his cheek nervously, his big hands holding Renata's.

She let him lead her to the tube and took a deep breath as she stood outside it.

"Are you ready?" he murmured, studying her face intently.

She nodded after a second and slowly stepped forward into the tube. It shut behind her and she turned to face Finnick, swallowing nervously. The platform she stood on slowly started moving her upwards and she put her hands on the wall, keeping her eyes on Finnick.

"Bet?" He mouthed, his lips turning up in a small smile.

Renata smiled back and nodded before she could no longer see him. As she was brought up higher, a frigid wind licked her cheeks and she saw snow flurries blowing around.

The other tributes came up from the ground around the Cornucopia and an eerie silence stood in the arena. She looked around at the place, seeing only a few dead trees here and there. Everything else was covered in thick, white snow. It was nothing she had trained for. The elements were another factor entirely in whether or not someone could survive. She swallowed and pulled her hood up, seeing a few other of the tributes do the same.

As the countdown started, she raised her gloved fingertips to her lips and could still slightly feel the tingle in them from Finnick's token. She must have looked crazy as a smile broke out on her face and she stood ready on the platform.

"Thirty, twenty nine…"

There were a few things scattered on the outside of the Cornucopia, only a few small weapons and sacks. If Renata were to move very quickly, she could possibly get something without getting killed immediately.

"Twenty one, twenty, nineteen…"

She looked over her shoulder, seeing only an expanse of white. It would be impossible to survive without starting a fire….which would only alert people to her whereabouts…and would there be any wood to use? The trees looked bare as is, and if twenty three other tributes were trying to build fires… She refocused herself on the Cornucopia and the countdown, picking out the sack she would go for.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven…"

She could see Kain almost opposite her platform, a smirk on his face as he prepared to run right into the middle of the Cornucopia. She prayed that he would get taken care of so she wouldn't have to face him.

"Five…four…three…two…one."

**Soooooo how about that? Thank you very much again for everyone who is reviewing and even just reading this! I am enjoying reading your opinions and thoughts and I hope you keep giving me feedback! It is very very very appreciated :D**

**-Kelsey :3  
**


	9. Chapter 9

Renata shot forward off her platform at the same split second that the other tributes jumped into action and she dove for the backpack lying on the ground. The sight at the Cornucopia was something straight from a nightmare. Sure, the games were shown on television, but seeing it firsthand was something else entirely. The screams of anguish, the sickening sounds of bodies being mutilated, and the blood that stained the snow red…it was all so _real._

With the backpack safely on her back, she ducked out of the way of the young boy tribute from District Three and broke into a run. Something caught her foot and she yelped in surprise as she fell down on her face, quickly rolling over and dodging Kain's knife. Her blue eyes couldn't have been wider as she kicked him in the chest as hard as she could, knocking him backwards and then scurrying away from him. Risking a look behind her, she saw that Kain wasn't pursuing her; he was in the midst of a fight with another boy.

Renata's heart was pounding in her ears as she sprinted away from the Cornucopia, the tread on the bottom of her boots making easy work of running on the snowy ground. Since the countdown had ended, the lightly falling snow had turned into a snowstorm and the wind stung her cheeks and eyes. She held her arm up in front of her face to try and deflect some of the snow from getting into her eyes, but it didn't do much. The sack she'd managed to snatch up bounced back and forth on her back and she willed herself to keep going no matter what. She had been right about Kain; he seemed hell-bent on getting rid of her as quickly as he could… She pursed her lips and pressed forward, keeping an eye out for any tribute that might be pursuing her.

* * *

As time passed and her stride grew slower and slower, she stopped at a dead tree and leaned against it to catch her breath. How long had she been moving? An hour? Two hours, even? Her legs were trembling beneath her, threatening to give out, and she groaned as she lowered herself onto the ground. If someone wandered across her, she wouldn't have much of a heads-up…and the howling of the wind covered up most other sounds.

She sighed as she looked at the ground around her. She hadn't seen snow at home before. She'd only heard about it, and saw it on television… If she outlived the arena, she was sure that she'd never want to see snow again. She scooped up a handful of the freshly fallen snow and brought it up to her face. She tasted it cautiously, in case the Gamemakers had come up with something like acid snow. It didn't immediately kill her, and she felt her extreme thirst be assuaged a bit.

"Well, there's one good thing," she mumbled as she put the rest of the handful into her mouth and let it melt. There didn't have to be a search for water or a shortage of it...but food, on the other hand…She sighed and had a few more handfuls of snow before resting against the trunk of the tree and squinting at her surroundings. There didn't seem to be anywhere to hide out at, there was just flat tundra.

Renata pursed her lips, unslung the backpack, and opened it. She pulled out a small package of dried meat, some matches, a pair of goggles, a second pair of gloves, and a sleeping bag. She slipped the goggles on immediately and smiled as she could see a bit better. That was very useful indeed! After tucking everything back into the backpack, she got on her feet and continued walking in the direction she had been going. She went a few paces before turning back and going to the tree, breaking off a couple of the smaller branches and gathering them up. For all she knew, firewood was sparse, and finding as much as she could might make the difference between life and death. It set her back a bit that she hadn't picked up a weapon from the Cornucopia…she had nothing to use to get food, or protect herself…

* * *

"Look at her, what is she doing?"

"She's gathering firewood! She's not going to light a fire, is she?"

"She'll freeze if she doesn't!"

Finnick watched the screen intently, vaguely listening to the people chattering around him. Mags sat silently by his side, glancing up at the screen every so often. He was very proud of Renata's progress so far. He had been worried for a moment when Kain tried to pin her down, but it was short lived. She definitely wouldn't go down without a fight.

"Rini?" Mags asked the man quietly and he nodded, not looking away from the cameras that caught his tribute's movements.

"Kain's fine on his own," he muttered, nodding towards the screen that showed Kain standing in the Cornucopia with the Careers, plenty of supplies lined along the walls and a fire going in the center.

"Finnick Odair, I presume?" a woman asked from behind.

He immediately stood and turned, looking to the owner of the voice, and he smiled that boyish grin. "You presume correctly…and who…might you be?" He walked over to her and took her hand in his, raising it to his lips and pressing a soft kiss to it.

The woman smiled widely, her long pink lashes fluttering. "Petunia," she breathed, her heart beating faster at just the sight of him. "I'm the highest bidder," she leaned in closer to whisper, smiling in excitement.

Finnick inwardly rolled his eyes. He could never have guessed… "Of course you are, darling…not that that matters," he winked, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Would you care to come watch with me? I'd prefer to keep watch over my chicks before we go…settle down," he smirked and squeezed her side teasingly.

"Yes, of course…Oh, Kain did team up with the Careers after all…How many are dead?" Petunia asked as she sat down on the bench and looked at each screen for a moment.

"Ten gone already…both my tributes are still alive," Finnick murmured, his sea green eyes fixing onto Renata. He held his breath as she came upon a small cave and stepped inside, lighting a match to examine the inside. Only when nothing attacked her did he release his breath, smiling as she worked to get a fire started. He dreaded when the time came for him to retire to Petunia's quarters; he would have to tear himself away from the screen, pull himself out of the games, and be that seductive oaf that Snow had made him into. It was always harder to keep up the charade during the games; he never really could get his mind out of the arena…and if he had a tribute struggling, he most certainly would be distracted.

"Come on, Rini," he murmured, watching her hands shake with cold as she assembled a small pile of branches and struck another match.

* * *

"Come on, damnit," Renata muttered, watching the kindling crackle but not quite ignite. She leaned down and blew gently at them, gasping in delight after a few moments when a flame sprang up and began catching to the bigger branches. She pulled off her gloves and warmed her hands, slowly getting feeling back into them. By wedging a stick into the ground by the fire, she made a place to rest her wet gloves on so they would dry, and then she grabbed her backpack. As she unrolled the sleeping bag, something flew out and landed on the ground. It looked like a long, thick needle when she examined it.

_Not exactly a weapon, _she thought to herself as she rolled it in her hands. It drew blood when she pricked the end of her finger and she pursed her lips. She could maybe fashion a spear out of it and try to catch some small animal or a fish…She coughed quietly and looked up, seeing that the cavern was filling with smoke. There was nowhere for the smoke to go! She walked towards the back wall of the cave and used the needle to dig at the wall. The ice gave way easily to the metal and she soon stuck it straight through, letting clean air in and giving the smoke a hole to escape through. The cavern soon emptied out and the redhead could breathe easily again. Hopefully through the heavy falling snow, the other tributes wouldn't see the smoke and she could rest up tonight.

She sighed as she lowered herself back to the ground and crawled inside of the sleeping bag, huddling close to the fire to keep warm. It had been the hardest day of her life so far…If she could keep out of sight and let the others take each other out, maybe she could win this. She pulled the sleeping bag up to her chin and kept an eye on the entrance to the cavern, keeping the ice pick close to her in case someone wandered upon her. It was strange to think that that same morning, she had been sleeping in a warm bed, and now here she was, shivering in the freezing cold and hiding to stay alive. She raised her fingertips to her lips and very gently touched them, closing her eyes and exhaling softly. It was very faint, but she could still feel the tingling in her lips. A smile grew on her face and she curled up into herself, the tingling spreading throughout her body as she thought about that beautiful kiss.

* * *

"Wait," Finnick stopped Petunia from pulling him away from their viewing balcony.

Renata's sweet smile practically lit up the screen and he grinned widely as he saw her touching her lips.

"What's she doing now?" Petunia asked curiously.

"She's got a special token, one that you can't see…but she can feel it," he murmured, his heart skipping a beat.

"Oh…well, shall we go, Finnick?"

He looked at the screen a moment longer and very discreetly touched his own lips before turning away and smiling at Petunia. He didn't feel the need to look back at her another time as they walked away from the broadcast; he knew that she would be alright.

**One day down, many more to go! What did you think? Rini isn't going to have it so easy! Thanks always for taking the time to read and if you would please review so I know your thoughts :D**

**-Kelsey :3  
**


	10. Chapter 10

The faintest light was coming through the window and the world outside was quiet. Petunia's light breathing touched Finnick's face, her naked body pressed up against his. He had been awake for quite some time; he could never sleep anyway. Slowly, as to not disturb the woman, he slipped out of bed and picked up his discarded pants, pulling them up his legs. The night had been agonizingly long, and he struggled with keeping his mind out of the arena. He knew that Petunia could tell he had been distracted, but she never complained.

They never did.

The floor was cold as he crossed the kitchen and plucked a sheet of paper from the pile by the telephone and used a pen to scrawl "I'm sorry for not waking you before I left, but you looked so beautiful I couldn't bear to wake you. Last night is one I'll remember forever… Love, Finnick." He pursed his lips, replaced the pen to its proper place, took his shirt from the countertop, and pulled it on. The clock on the wall read 4:26 and he scratched his head as he went to the door, slipping on his shoes and silently leaving through the front door.

He always liked this time of morning in the Capitol, when there were barely any people up. He could walk down the streets in peace, even sit down and have a meal somewhere if he wanted to. His mind was anything but at ease this morning. It was buzzing with all that he had to do; he had to schmooze with sponsors to get Renata a weapon, which was his first priority… He would have to leave her again tonight, that was inevitable, but he hoped to send her as many parachutes as he could before then.

The sky was becoming lighter by the time he made it inside his apartment. Before his shoes came off, he had the television screen on and he sighed with relief when he saw that Renata was still sleeping, still safe, and still alive. He sat down on the couch and exhaled heavily, scratching his chin and feeling stubble as he changed to different cameras in the arena, seeing what the other tributes were up to at this time in the morning. He pursed his lips when he saw Kain and the other Careers already on the move. His eyes narrowed as they came upon the young boy from District Three. He was huddled around a tiny fire and he looked up to see the five people advancing on him. His eyes widened and his mouth opened as if he was going to cry out for help, but Kain was quick in stabbing his sword into his stomach and twisting it.

Finnick swallowed as he saw the pain in the young boy's eyes, looking away as it slowly faded and then he was gone. "I think it's time to wake up, Rini," he muttered, swallowing and watching Kain wipe the blood from his blade.

* * *

The sound of a cannon going off startled Renata into consciousness and she looked around wildly, expecting an intruder. Alas, there was no one in the cavern but herself, and the fire she'd huddled by all night was reduced to faintly glowing ashes. The night had not been an easy one; she jumped at any sound she heard, or thought she heard, and her supply of firewood ran out sometime early in the morning, leaving her shivering in her sleeping bag.

She got up and walked to the small mouth of the cave and dug out the entrance from all the snowfall the previous day, then got down on her belly so she could poke her head out and see if anyone was around her. The sun reflected off the snow and nearly blinded her and once she blinked a few times to adjust her eyes, she crawled all the way out and walked around a few paces in every direction. The snow would have covered up any tracks she had left, and also every other tribute that may have wandered by. Feeling very vulnerable without anything with her, she scampered back inside and had a small breakfast of the dried meat and snow.

Renata sighed as she picked up the ice pick and examined it again. Now that she thought about using it as a weapon against someone, she knew that it would be almost no help. She would have better luck killing someone with her fists than the pick. Not letting her worried thoughts get the best of her, she stood up and slung her packed backpack on, held the ice pick, and left the cave. The sun was beating down at some incredible heat and it didn't take long before Renata felt her clothes become soaked with sweat. She stopped to take a small break and finish off the rest of the dried meat. She couldn't help but think about if there was no other food to be found, or if there was and she couldn't capture it…

Something was reflecting off the snow and she squinted ahead of her, gasping when she saw that there was a melted opening in the ice. Water! That meant there could be fish! Renata jogged towards the hole and dropped down to her knees to peer into the hole. The water was fairly clear, and as she sat and watched for a moment, a fish swam by. Her fingers tightened around the needle and she slowly raised it up and positioned it over the fish. She took a breath and then exhaled, plunging her arm down into the water and then yanking it back up.

Nothing.

She hissed in frustration and raised her arm again, waiting for another fish to come along. Sweat rolled down the back of her neck and there was not even a small breeze in the arena. Curse the Gamemakers and their weather manipulation…She gritted her teeth as another fish swam by, and imagined that the fish was Seneca Crane. When she drew the ice pick back up, there was a speared fish on the end and she squealed loudly with delight.

* * *

"That's all she's got to use for protection?" Marco asked, watching Renata spear the fish. "That won't do, will it?"

Finnick shook his head, both men chuckling at the woman's squeal of success. He was freshly shaven and in clean clothes now, in the mindset to squeeze whatever gifts he could out of these people.

The man nodded in agreement, pausing a moment to watch her clean off the pick and set the fish on the snowy ground. "She's not planning on eating that raw, is she?"

He shrugged, standing with his hands on his hips. "If she had a knife, she could clean it and cook it…" His lips turned up in that playful, seductive smile and Marco chuckled and nodded.

"Yes, I suppose you're right…alright, a knife she shall have!"

"Excellent! Thank you so much…it a good cause, I promise," Finnick winked and took the man's money, shaking his hand before bolting off to the parachute kiosk. He walked up behind a man at the counter, chewing on his lip as he watched Rini on the screen behind the counter.

"A knife to the female from District Four?" the attendant asked, making Finnick furrow his brow.

"Excuse me, what are—" He stopped as the man in front of him turned around.

"Mr. Odair, I was wondering when you were going to get around to sending your tribute something," Seneca smirked. "She really needs a weapon, doesn't she? Well, don't worry, she's got one on the way now…" He chuckled at the look of fury on his face. "Why does it matter if I send her anything? The important thing is that she be well equipped, right? Good day…" He gave another chuckle before brushing past him.

That son of a bitch! But as much as he hated to admit it, he was right…Renata had a knife now, and he could send her something else useful…

"What can I do for you, sir?" the attendant smiled at Finnick as he stepped up and started flipping through various items on the screen on the counter. He took the money and nodded as Finnick pointed out what he wanted.

"For Renata Kelde, District Four," he murmured, turning and walking out when the man nodded. He wouldn't let that slime ball win… Rini was innocent…

He clenched his jaw as the image of Seneca on top of the young girl came into his mind and it took all of his strength not to release his frustration on some unsuspecting person passing by. He made it back to his viewing balcony without assaulting anyone and he sighed as he sat down and watched as the first parachute was coming in for land.

* * *

A small pinging sound caused Renata to look up from her seat beside the fishing hole and watch as a parachute floated down towards her and land in the snow. She got up and hurried over to it, her hands trembling as she opened it. Her breath caught in her throat as she pulled out an impressive hunting knife. She turned it in her hands, admiring the razor sharp side and a serrated edge on the other.

"Thank you," She smiled and looked up at the sky, so thankful for the gift. She looked back into the container and found a small slip of white paper. 'To ensure you'll come back to me. –S' it read, and Renata felt her blood run cold. She swallowed and gathered up the parachute in case she could use it for something, grabbed her small haul of fish, and stood to go back to the cavern.

She stopped after a while, hearing another pinging sound from above her. She couldn't have two gifts, could she? The parachute floated down and landed a few feet in front of her and when she opened it, her eyes widened as she found a small axe inside. The slip of paper inside read, 'Stay strong, Rini. –F' She smiled and looked up at the sky once more, feeling incredibly fortunate. "Thank you," she whispered again and put the axe on her belt along with her knife and headed back towards the cavern.

* * *

The snow began falling again once the sun started to set, and Renata was tucked away inside the cavern, a nice fire going and the fish cleaned and roasting on the flames. She sighed as she ran her finger along the blade of the knife, then gripped the hilt and held it out. Could she kill someone when it came down to that? She bit her lip and jabbed the air with the knife, then blushed and dropped it. The people of Panem were probably laughing at her, or not watching her at all…Her show wasn't all that entertaining. She reached to retrieve her sleeping bag from her backpack when she heard a soft grunt. Her eyes widened and she quickly took up the knife again, her heart racing in her ears.

Someone was outside.

Her hands trembled as she quickly but quietly gathered up her backpack and axe, getting up into a standing position as one side of the cavern ripped open. The raging wind from outside nearly extinguished the fire and Renata had to keep herself from screaming as a mutt bear came plodding inside the cavern. It was easily 8 feet tall and those claws looked deadly. It raised its huge head and sniffed at the air, growling. The bear seemed to stare right at Renata as she pressed back against the wall before taking a few steps forward and lowering its head to sniff at the fish that had been roasting. It gave a great huff before beginning to chow down on them.

Renata's whole body was trembling with fear. The bear was distracted with the fish now, but she was certain that he wouldn't be satisfied after that measly meal. Seizing the chance she had, she very quietly began to move along the wall towards the opening the bear had made, praying that it would stay distracted enough for her to get away. As she reached the opening, the bear raised its head and seemed to search for the girl, baring its teeth when it saw her about to escape. Tears sprang to her eyes as it gave a loud and terrifying roar and she scrambled out of the cave and into the stinging winds, running blindly away from the creature. She could hear its huge, pounding footsteps behind her as she fled as fast as she could. A searing pain came to the back of her calf and she fell to the ground, clutching her leg and feeling the fresh gash from its razor like claws. She screamed in anguish, her blood staining the snow red and she knew this was the end. It wouldn't be easy and painless; she would be torn to ribbons by the mutt. She closed her eyes as the bear was coming down on her when he gave a loud roar again, but another strike didn't come. Renata risked opening her eyes to see the bear was staring off in another direction, an arrow lodged into its shoulder. It huffed and then went tearing off towards the other direction, leaving the redhead there with her mangled leg.

She whimpered with pain, tears rolling down her cheeks as she fought to get to her legs. It was excruciating to put weight on her injured leg, but she could limp. Knife and axe in hand, she limped as quickly as she could, not quite sure where she was going.

There came a part in the ground where, when she stepped with her hurt leg, it caused her to buckle and fall forward and she would've screamed if the icy water didn't overtake her. It stabbed at her skin and she even forgot about the pain in her leg momentarily as the water soaked her down to her skin.

Darkness was in every direction. Which way was up? She thrashed about with both the knife and the axe, desperately trying to find the surface. Her eyes were getting hazy as she struck the quickly refreezing ice with the blade, feeling like she was drifting off to sleep. The surface of the ice was broken through and Renata felt herself be lifted from the water. The heaviness in her eyes wouldn't go away and she felt a great warmth come over her. Was this the end? This didn't seem so bad…it was better than falling asleep… Someone was dragging her across the snow, but she could barely realize that anything was happening outside of her exhaustion.

It took a great deal of strength to raise her fingertips to her lips, and she swallowed when she couldn't feel the tingle in her lips anymore. Tears went down her cheeks as she closed her eyes.

"Finnick…"


	11. Chapter 11

"Five…four…three…two….one."

Everyone in the arena jumped into action at the same moment. The Careers headed straight into the heart of the Cornucopia, killing any of the weaker tributes that had been stupid enough to go against them.

Renata's flash of red hair was unmistakable, and Kain watched as she dodged out of the boy from District Three's way and snatched up a backpack. She turned and began to run away; where did she think she was going? He went up to a boy who had another boy pinned and broke his neck, picking up the knife he had dropped and chasing after the young woman.

She cried out when he grabbed her ankle and he scrambled to get on top of her, bringing the knife down towards one of those wide blue eyes. Anger raged through him when she dodged it and he felt the wind get knocked out of him as she kicked him hard in the chest, knocking him backwards. At the same moment, the boy he'd saved came over to him, knife in hand.

Kain jumped up, ready to kill him, when he put up his hands and shook his head.

"I want to join together!" he exclaimed, swallowing. "Please, I can help!"

He pursed his lips, studying him as the bloodbath began to quiet down. His brown eyes looked past the tribute's shoulder and he could just faintly see Renata's figure in the distance. God damnit. He nearly had her. "What makes you think I need your help?" he muttered, moving towards him in a flash and slashing his throat open.

The boy dropped his knife and stood wobbling for a moment, his eyes bulging and looking at Kain before he fell to the snowy ground.

He sighed and retrieved the knife from the ground, looking around at all the tributes that were all lying in pools of their dark blood. An eerie quiet had come over the Cornucopia and Kain headed towards the mouth of the horn, hearing voices inside.

"Don't move!" a girl exclaimed as the young man came walking inside. Everyone had jumped to their feet, weapons in hand and pointed at Kain. "What do you want?"

Kain grinned, looking a bit smug. "Don't you know I just want to be a part of your little club here?" He looked from the tributes from One, to Two, and kept that grin on his face.

"Oh, it's Kain," the boy from One, Xavier, murmured and lowered his axe. He sat back down in front of the fire and resumed cooking some kind of meat over the flames.

The other Careers slowly lowered their weapons and sat back down, and Kain chuckled to himself as he took a seat. "What's that look for?" he asked the scowling female from Two.

"I don't trust you," she murmured, pursing her lips as she stared at him.

"Averie, relax…"

"Shut up, Marrick," she snapped back, glaring at him. This guy gave her a bad feeling.

Kain chuckled, shaking his head. "Oh, me? I wouldn't hurt a fly, don't you know?" He stared back at Averie, turning serious. "If you wiped that look off your face, you might be halfway decent looking. Remember, the world is watching…" He smirked and turned to warm his hands in the fire when she scoffed.

The female from One was giggling quietly at something Xavier was saying, and Kain raised his eyebrow in curiosity. "What's so funny?"

Ruby looked over at him, stifling another giggle. "He was doing an impression of the girl we found trying to take half of everything in here…"

On cue, Xavier did a very girlish whimper and he put his arms up, shaking his head. "Please! Please, mister, don't kill me!"

"Like you'd say okay because she had nice manners," Ruby laughed, shaking her head and sighing.

The others chuckled quietly before going quiet again, listening to the howling wind right outside.

* * *

"You didn't team up with Renata?" Averie asked Kain after a while, snapping him out of his daze.

"What? No, of course not…Who wants extra baggage around?" he snickered, the others nodding in agreement. "No, I'll find her and take her out myself." He stood and went to the mouth of the cave, seeing that the snow had stopped falling so heavily as the sun started to set. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flickering in the distance. Could it be Rini? Out in the snow, freezing to death? That wouldn't do…he wanted to kill her! He had a huge distaste for her ever since he'd laid eyes on her. Little, mousy, and innocent, she would of course be the mentor's favorite. Finnick couldn't resist a woman, regardless of her age. He didn't expect to receive any parachutes, not while Renata was alive. He pursed his lips angrily and turned away, going back to the others.

"I think it's time to go play welcoming committee," Kain announced, slipping on his gloves. He grabbed a sword off of the wall and ran a finger along the blade. "Someone is inviting us out; I think it would be rude if we didn't make an appearance…Anyone care to join me?"

Ruby grinned and stood up, grabbing her quiver of arrows and slinging them on her shoulder. "I'll go! Xavier, come on!"

The blonde boy stood up and grabbed his axe, looking at Marrick and Averie. "You coming?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Averie sighed and got up, Marrick following her and they headed out into the cold wind.

Kain led the way, his heart thudding with excitement as they neared the person huddling around the fire.

"Oh! No, please…I don't want to die," the girl from District 8 pleaded, backing away. Tears leaped to her eyes as Ruby walking forward and kneeled in front of her.

"You didn't think you were going to win, did you? You were stupid enough to light a fire…you invited us out here, we were just accepting…oh, don't cry…" Ruby sneered as the girl buried her face in her hands and sobbed quietly. She looked back at Xavier and he stepped up, raising his axe and then burying it deep into her skull.

Kain pursed his lips, irked that it hadn't been who he was hoping it was. He stomped out the fire and sighed, reaching down to take the backpack and few other things the girl had had. He stared at her for a moment, not flinching as the cannon boomed loudly and a hovercraft appeared a moment later to retrieve the body. The group turned and headed back in the direction of the Cornucopia in silence, not having much to say to one another.

They stopped in their tracks when Panem's anthem suddenly came blaring into the arena and faces of the tribute that were perished flashed across the sky. The girl from Three, both from Five, the boy from Six, the girl from Eight, the boy from Nine, both from Ten and Eleven were all gone, leaving 14 tributes still alive. Kain was pleased to know that Renata was still alive as well.

The projection flickered before returning to the night sky, and they began walking again.

"Shouldn't we have gotten there already?" Averie asked after a while, stopping. The others stopped and looked around in confusion, seeing nothing but flat land in every direction. "It didn't take us this long to find the girl…"

"Did we go the wrong way?" Ruby swallowed, shivering from the low temperature. She looked to Kain nervously, watching him squint into the distance.

"No, we didn't," he muttered, sighing. "The Cornucopia is gone."

"Gone?" Xavier thundered, shaking his head. "What do you mean, gone?" He whirled around and looked in every direction frantically, thinking that maybe they overlooked something. They had to have…

Kain pursed his lips and set his things down on the ground. They might as well stay here until the morning. "Gone, you know, not here anymore. Averie's right, we would have passed it a long time ago. It's gone."

Marrick furrowed his brow, still confused. "How can it just be gone?"

"The Gamemakers," Averie muttered, setting her things down as well and looking at Kain. "We need to get a fire started…

"All our food," Ruby wailed. "It can't be…"

"Unless you want us to start snacking at your limbs, we need to find some damn wood and get a fire started!" Kain snapped, making the young woman swallow and nod before going off with Xavier to find some firewood. He knelt on the ground and opened the bag he'd claimed from the girl, digging through it to see if there was anything useful. He pulled out a sleeping bag and some flint, but there wasn't much inside that he could use. He looked up as there came a small pinging noise from above and watched as a parachute came drifting down and landed a short distance from Averie.

"Is that for you, or me?" she asked him, standing up to retrieve it.

"If it's for me, I'll kiss you on the mouth," he muttered to himself, shaking his head as she brought back the rather large cargo.

She opened it and gasped at the firewood inside, taking it out and beginning to arrange it on the ground.

* * *

"Should one of us keep watch?" Ruby asked, huddled against Xavier for warmth. The fire blazed in front of them, but the decreasing temperature was nearly unbearable. She looked across the fire at Kain, who was wrapped in the sleeping bag. She quickly averted her eyes when he looked at her, a bit irritated that he had kept the sleeping bag for himself instead of giving it to, say, one of the girls.

"Watch for what?" Marrick muttered, shivered and hugging his arms to his chest. "If anyone is walking around, they'll freeze to death…" He drew his hood up over his head and scooted closer to the fire, his teeth chattering audibly.

Averie looked over at Kain, who was staring into the fire unblinking. She bit her lip when he looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "I guess we should try to get some sleep, then?" She scooted closer to the fire and huddled against Marrick, shivering.

The only sound in the arena in hours that ensued was the crackling of the fire and the shuffling of one of the five adding more wood to the fire. Every so often a cannon boom would go off; announcing the death of another tribute. Without a fire, death was unavoidable.

As morning drew near, Kain stirred and sat up, blinking the sleep from his eyes. The other four were huddled together in front of the dying fire, and the snowfall from the night before had stopped all together. He got out of his sleeping bag and rolled it up, packing it into the backpack and slinging it on. The faintest light lit the arena and he went to nudge Averie with his foot. "Get up, it's time to move," he murmured when she stirred.

The young woman groaned as she sat up, nudging Marrick awake. "Why so early?" She muttered as he woke Ruby and Xavier.

"That's why," he muttered, nodding towards a pillar of smoke coming. There had been four cannon booms during the night, dropping the number of people still alive to ten.

Once everyone was up and moving, Kain led the way towards the smoke, sword in hand. The arena had just the slightest slopes, not noticeable unless one was actually walking up them.

The small boy from District Three was huddled as close as possible to the tiny fire he had in front of him, his frame shivering from cold. He looked up when Kain came over the crest of the slope and he gasped quietly. The four others appeared a moment after and crowded around him.

He opened his mouth like he was about to cry out for help, but didn't get the chance to as Kain thrust his sword into his stomach and slowly twisted it. He made a choked noise, staring at the burly young man before he groaned and closed his eyes.

Kain only removed the sword when the cannon sounded, wiping it off on his pants and standing upright. The others were staring at him with a curious expression and he sighed. "What is it?"

"What makes you think you're all of the sudden the leader?" Xavier furrowed his brow, his fingers tightening around the handle of his axe. "I don't follow anyone."

Kain sighed and shook his head, chuckling quietly. "Okay then, go on and do your thing. Take blondie and go, you think I care about you?" He smirked at the scowl on Xavier's face.

"I don't have to leave, you get out! It's your fault that the Cornucopia's gone!" he yelled back, his face red with anger. He stepped towards the man, narrowing his eyes at him.

"Xavier, let's go," Ruby murmured, swallowing.

"Shut up," he hissed back. "Gotta kill this bastard anyway, huh? Why not now?"

Kain smirked, "Because a chase is more entertaining." His sneer grew bigger as Xavier backed away and glanced at Ruby. "Come on…"

Before anyone could react, Kain plunged his blade into Ruby's stomach and he ducked out of the way of Xavier's retaliation. The tribute roared with anger and lunged after Kain, Marrick joining in the assault. Averie turned and ran in the other direction, looking back to see Marrick fall to the ground. She swallowed, her heart racing as she put more and more distance between herself and the two boys, the two cannon bursts echoing in the sky.

* * *

Averie finally stopped when it was beginning to get dark, bracing herself against a dead tree to catch her breath. Her legs trembled in threat of giving out beneath her and she slowly eased herself down, putting a few handfuls of snow into her mouth. Her body was so exhausted and she felt weak as she rested against the trunk. Two days down, and there were only 8 tributes left. She sighed after her heart rate return to normal and grabbed her sword, freezing when she saw a large figure moving across the ground a distance away from her. Her breath caught in her throat as it rose up on its back legs and sniffed at a snow drift before ripping the side open with its mighty claw.

She got to her feet, squinting to see what was happening. Her eyes widened as a roar erupted from the animal and she saw the figure of a person sprinting away from the drift, the animal close on her heels. Averie risked running over to the snow drift to get a closer look, and a shiver went down her spine as there came a ear splitting, agonized scream and the animal roared again. In the moonlight, Averie saw an arrow come flying out of nowhere and pierce the bear in its shoulder. It turned and went running in the other direction before disappearing into thin air. What was going on?

The young woman had gotten back to her feet and slowly began to hobble away in the other direction. Averie swallowed, watching her and debating on whether or not to put her out of her misery. The girl suddenly toppled forward and disappeared under the surface of the ground and Averie was faced with a choice. She could either let the girl drown or save her and maybe team up with her and find Kain…

Her footsteps were fast, but she knew the ice had to be refreezing in the time it took her to reach the spot she had fallen through. She dropped down to her knees and swiped at the surface of the ice with her hand, seeing the girl weakly striking at the surface with whatever weapon she had. Using the hilt of her sword, she broke the surface after a few hard strikes and then tossed it aside and plunged her hands down into the icy water and looped her arms underneath her armpits and lifted upwards. It took a few tries, but she managed to get her out onto the surface. From the light of the moon, she could finally see that the girl was Renata!

"Renata! Can you hear me?" Averie leaned down into her face, gently slapping her cheeks.

She murmured weakly, her eyes struggling to stay open. "Finnick," she whispered, closing her eyes.

Averie bit her lip and she looked at the knife and the axe in her hands, realizing why Kain hadn't gotten any gifts. She grunted as she began to pull her across the snow back towards the mangled snow drift, figuring that it was better shelter for her than just laying out in the freezing cold. Would she be able to keep her alive? Then again….why would she want to?

**Yahoo, this was a fast update! I've been really into writing for this lately and I REALLY enjoyed writing this chapter! So please! Give me your feedback and maybe the next chapter will have a speedy update as well :3**

*****Also also! I wouldn't do this if I wasn't absolutely in LOVE with this author's story! Please please PLEASE check out For Everything A Reason by RemyThirteen and review because it is a fantastic story with wonderful characters and she deserves to have it read and reviewed by you lovely people! Please and thank you :D*****

**-Kelsey :3  
**


	12. Chapter 12

"You're awake."

Renata moaned softly, blinking a few times and gasping when she saw Averie sitting across the fire from her. "What happened?" she asked, sitting up and wincing at the pain in her leg. She looked at it and saw that it was wrapped in gauze. Had Averie taken care of her?

"You fell through the ice and were unconscious for two days," she replied, eating something from out of a pot.

She pursed her lips, her stomach growling from the smell of whatever she was eating. "You saved me?" Why would she do that? She looked around and saw many empty canisters.

"Yeah, and I'm glad I did. I've never seen so many gifts come in at one time," Averie murmured through a mouthful of food. "No wonder Kain's so intent on finding you."

Kain? Her heart dropped as she thought of the burly young man. "He's still alive?" Of course he was…he was the best one suited for winning. She pulled herself up into a sitting position and slowly scooted closer to the fire, warming her hands. "What happened while I was out?" Her mouth watered as she watched Averie set aside the empty dish and warm her hands over the fire.

"There are five of us left," she pursed her lips and stared into the fire for a moment before looking up at Renata. "The boy from eight tried to come kill us, but I got him." Renata noticed the hint of pride in her voice.

"Where did all of this come from?" she asked, motioning to the bounty of food and supplies around them. She reached for a container and gasped in delight as there was hot food inside. Her hands could not dig into it fast enough and she had to remind herself to slow down or she'd get sick.

"Your mentor, probably," Averie replied, chewing on her fingernail. "After I pulled you out, I got a parachute that had medicine and gauze in it. I guess he figured that I'd take care of you if he sent food for us to eat…sorry I ate most of it while you were asleep."

Renata smiled and shook her head, swallowing a mouthful of food. "Why did you save me?" she asked after a moment, setting aside the empty dish and picking up a bottle. When she tasted the contents, a smile grew on her lips. It was hot chocolate.

Averie pursed her lips and thought a moment. "I don't really know. When I was with Kain, he never stopped talking about how when he finds you, he wants to be the one to kill you."

Renata nearly spit out her drink, her blue eyes wide. She saved her to take her to Kain?

"And he went off and killed my district partner and Ruby from One. I guess I thought that if I saved you, you and I could take care of Kain together…I'm glad I did, too. I was worried that you'd either die from your leg or the cold, but it felt like the parachutes never stopped coming."

"Well, thank you," Renata smiled at her and set aside her bottle, grabbing for her pack. "So what, now we're going to hunt Kain down?" The idea wasn't settling very well. She knew that he had killed a number of people and she had yet to kill anyone. The closest she had come to death had been the mutt, and even then, it had stopped. She pursed her lips and looked over at Averie, who was packing up some of the provisions in another backpack. "Did you see who shot the bear?"

"No, I didn't. It looked like it had come out of nowhere, really. But it was dark, maybe another tribute had a crush on you and didn't want to see you become bear food," she smiled, shrugging and slinging her backpack on. "Then it ran past me and literally disappeared. Unless the cold was doing something to my eyes that night, I swear that it just –poof!- disappeared into thin air."

Why would that happen? Renata pursed her lips and tried to push away her thoughts as she struggled to get to her feet. Pain shot up her bad leg when she put weight on it and she stumbled against Averie, blushing as she helped steady her. "Thanks," she murmured, taking her knife and putting it on her belt. "Where are we going?"

"We aren't going to pursue Kain, we're going to let him come to us. Maybe by then it'll be just the three of us left." Averie checked out their surroundings before nodding and starting out of the cavern.

Renata tried to keep up behind her, but her mangled leg forced her to limp and so she remained a foot or so behind Averie as they moved across the snowy ground. She realized after a while that she was blindly following this girl. What exactly would happen when they found Kain and somehow managed to kill him? Would Averie turn on her then?

* * *

Finnick had been in the middle of talking to Kent, another sponsor, when the old man suddenly pointed to the screen. "She's awake!"

He looked at the screen and felt a huge weight lift off his chest as he saw Renata's eyes open. Without realizing it, a huge smile had spread across his face and he chuckled quietly.

"Relieved?" the sponsor smiled at him, pulling out his pipe. "Maybe now I'll send something, since I know that it'll be for Renata and not for that other girl."

Finnick chuckled again and nodded, unable to peel his eyes away from the redhead on screen. He had been out of his mind when she had been hurt and nearly killed by the muttation. Something about the incident had left him perplexed, though. The way the bear had been called away from Renata right before was about to finish her…He studied the footage over and over and found that the arrow that pierced its shoulder had not come from any tribute in the arena. It had been conjured out of thin air. Or had it been ordered to fire at the muttation? Finnick pursed his lips, knowing that Seneca Crane had to be involved in this. Didn't he know that cheating didn't go over well with the people? It could be dangerous for Rini, too. But that bastard was only concerned with protecting his claim to her.

"Are you alright?" Kent asked, noticing the veins bulging in Finnick's arms from how clenched his fists were.

"What? Oh…yeah, I'm just thinking," he murmured, giving the man a small smile before looking back at the screen as the girls began to pack up and move out. He frowned when he saw how difficult it was for Renata to walk, but then brightened when Averie turned back to help her along. It wasn't often that a tribute came from a Career district and wasn't a bloodthirsty lunatic, and Finnick was grateful for the young woman's kindness to his tribute.

"So what happens next? It has to be getting close to a finale of some kind…this year's games aren't exactly as exciting as past years," Kent murmured, concentrating on blowing out orange smoke rings.

Finnick nodded and pursed his lips. "Too many people are freezing to death…not enough bloodshed."

He nodded in agreement. "Do you think it will happen tonight? What with so few left?"

"I don't know." Finnick studied the screen as the sunlight began to fade. The Gamemakers were ready to put an end to this year's game. Kent had been right; the arena had been a failure this year. The tributes were supposed to die by one another's hand, not the elements. He couldn't help the small smirk that crossed his face; if the people were unhappy with the quality of the games, then there was one man who had to pay the consequences.

Someone's arms wrapped around his shoulders, surprising him. He grabbed the arms and wrenched them off, pulling the person around, and his eyes widened as he saw that it was a woman.

Her eyes were wide and she looked flustered as he held her upper arms tightly. Oops. It was a reflex. "F-Finnick," she breathed, her cheeks bright red. "I-I…"

He clenched his jaw and had to restrain himself from tossing his latest client over the balcony. "I'm busy," he muttered, releasing her arms and letting her stand upright. He was getting too angry too quickly, and the woman just standing there staring at him wasn't helping to calm him.

"But…I paid a lot of money to have you," she whispered, licking her lips and looking around nervously.

"I said not now, damnit!" Finnick yelled, jumping to his feet. The woman looked at him with fear in her eyes, taking a shaky step backwards as he advanced towards her. "I'm a little busy here, do you mind if I keep trying to keep this girl alive? Is that okay with you?" he spat, his face flushed red from anger.

She whimpered and nodded, tears welling in her eyes.

Two pairs of hands clamped down on his shoulders and Finnick knew he was in trouble now.

"President Snow would like to have a word with you, Mr. Odair."

* * *

"Can we please stop for a minute?" Renata gasped, sweat pouring down her face. She groaned as Averie helped her ease down to the ground and she reached to unwrap her bandage. Her leg still looked in bad condition, but there was no sign of infection or anything and she breathed a sigh when Averie got out the can of medicine and slathered more on her calf.

"Why don't we camp here for the night?" she suggested with a smile, setting down her sword and backpack. "You should rest that leg a little while. We'll make it to the top tomorrow, anyway," she motioned to the top of the steep mountain-like slope they had paused on.

Renata nodded and reached around behind her to pull off her bag, pulling out the bowl with now cold food inside. "Do you need any help?" she asked as Averie began to assemble a small fire. From the spot they were perched at on the slope, anyone in the arena would be able to see where they were. "Do you think it's safe to do that?" her voice came in a whisper and she swallowed.

"No one will come looking for us at night, I promise. It's too cold to move around…they'll just know where we are, and by the time we start moving tomorrow, we won't have to worry about it. Plus, we'll have the high ground against Kain," she replied, reaching for the bowl that Renata hadn't touched. "Let me see that. I'm starving…"

She pursed her lips and handed over the food, looking out at the vast emptiness of the arena to see if she could see anyone else. Snow began falling again and she shivered, huddling closer to the fire, taking the bowl from Averie and eating quietly.

"So what happens when we find Kain? Or he finds us?" Renata asked after a moment.

The young woman didn't answer for a moment, reaching into her bag for more bandage to rewrap Rini's leg. "We kill him," she said after finishing, sitting back and looking at her.

"You say that like it'll be simple," she laughed weakly, taking out her sleeping bag and getting into it. Her stomach was turning nervously and she swallowed, looking across the fire at her ally. "And…then what happens?"

"Then it's every person for themselves," she replied shortly, shrugging and getting into her sleeping bag.

* * *

"President Snow?" a Peacekeeper asked, leading Finnick down a pathway lined by hedges and into an opening. There were roses everywhere, and the sickly sweet smell overpowered his senses and made him want to vomit.

The stout man turned and his lips curled upward. "Yes, thank you. Mr. Odair, it's been awhile since we've spoken…how are you?"

He swallowed, glancing behind him as the Peacekeepers left them alone. "Great. Wonderful."

"You know it just warms my heart to hear that," Snow murmured, clipping a rose's stem and sighing. "It has come to my attention that you're not complying to my will…now why is that?"

"How do you expect me to keep my tribute alive when I'm off…plugging some Capitol woman? If I—"

"You think that if you're watching a screen, you're increasing her chance of survival? And what of your other tribute? Surely he has a load of sponsors that want to send him gifts, no?"

Finnick's cheeks burned with anger and he swallowed, trying to keep his hands from shaking.

"Listen, Finnick. I like you, you're a good kid. I'd appreciate it if you would refrain from disobeying the rules and rather enjoy your duties…" he glanced back at him, raising an eyebrow.

He swallowed again, looking into those snakelike eyes and forcing himself to hold his gaze. "I'm not the only one here that has bent the rules, President."

"If you're referring to Seneca, I've already taking care of things…there's no need to worry yourself with such business, Mr. Odair. Now if I were you, I'd go back and made amends with that woman."

The Peacekeepers appeared again, grabbing Finnick by his arms.

Snow turned around, holding a few roses in his hands. He narrowed his eyes at the young man and smirked. " Know your place, Finnick. I would hate for anything terrible to happen to you."

**o0o0o0oh President Snow you so scaryyy~ I hope this chapter was alright and I'm verrrrry excited to start working on the next one :3 no spoilers, i'm just super duper excited :3 let me know what you think, as always, I love to read what you think of it! :D  
**

**-Kelsey :3  
**


	13. Chapter 13

Renata jumped when Averie shook her awake and was hardly able to hold her eyes open as she began to pack up her things.

"It's down to four now. The boy from seven went last night…Breakfast? I'm afraid that you'll have to eat it on the go, we aren't the only ones wanting to get a head start," Averie murmured, motioning down the slope.

Only by squinting could she see that a person was moving towards them. She swallowed and was pulled to her feet. "Kain?"

"I think so. Come on, let's get moving."

Renata followed Averie, her heart pounding nervously against her chest. This was it. They were being followed by the one person who was bent on killing her, with nowhere else to go or hide. She gripped the hilt of her knife tighter as they ascended the steep slope, the sun coming up quicker than any of the past days. Every so often, she would glance behind her and see that Kain was still a ways off from them, not hurrying in making his advance on them.

Averie seemed intent on helping her take him out. Even so, could both girls hold their ground against the obviously stronger tribute? If the viewers were starving for some action, they would get it soon.

The girls gasped as there came a low rumble from beneath their feet and they toppled to the snowy ground. After a moment, it went away and they stood up, shrugging to one another.

* * *

Finnick murmured quietly as he kissed the woman beside him awake. "Good morning," he purred, stroking her collarbone with his fingers. "Did you sleep well?"

Marielle smiled and nodded, her cheeks pink. "I had the most curious dream…there was a knock on the door and when I answered it, you were there. You pulled me into your arms and kissed me and we…well," her cheeks darkened and she looked away from his amused gaze, laughing shyly.

"I don't think that was a dream, darling…it sounds an awful lot like what happened last night," he murmured, burying his face in her neck and planting several feather-light kisses to her skin. "Can you ever forgive me for exploding at you yesterday? I was so worried about my tribute that-"

She shook her head and put her fingertips to his lips. "I understand, love," she whispered and leaned up to kiss him. "You care about her and want to make sure she comes out alright. I couldn't imagine mentoring anyone. Especially the young ones, you know? Because do they really have a chance against people who have been training their entire lives? It isn't fair," she murmured, running her fingers through his tousled hair.

"It isn't," Finnick said softly, closing his eyes at her gentle touch. "But that's life, right?"

Marielle shrugged and let her hand fall. "I suppose so."

He nodded and smiled, brushing her hair back. "Will I see you again?" he asked, his voice in a whisper as he grazed his lips over her soft ones.

"I hope so. I hope your girl comes out as victor. I'd hate to see you upset again," Marielle sat up as he got out of bed and dressed himself.

Finnick softened and chewed on his lip as he pulled his shirt on. He crossed over to her and took her hand in his, raising it up to his lips. "Thank you, Marielle. Until next time, my darling?" He kissed her hand softly and then gave her lips a long, tender kiss before pulling away and heading for the door.

As he walked down the streets of the Capitol, he noticed that people seemed to be more enthusiastic than other mornings. Crowds of people were up chanting and shouting in excitement. He caught someone's conversation involving what they believed the finale would be and how since another person had died, today would have to be the day that the Gamemakers let everything loose. He swallowed back the lump in his throat and moved as quickly as he could to his normal viewing balcony. If today was the finale, then he knew there would be little he could do to help. There usually wasn't time to send any gifts, or give aid…all he could do was watch. Finnick settled into his seat and he sat forward, his eyes studying each screen as he waited for the real show to begin.

* * *

"Please," Renata breathed, reaching out for Averie. Her leg felt like it was on fire from all the climbing they had done without any stopping. She gasped as her knees buckled and she fell to the ground, panting heavily.

"Renata, you can't stop!" Averie gasped, kneeling down beside her. "Look! Look, we're almost there, and then we can stop, I promise! Get up!"

Tears leapt to her eyes and she shook her head. She was so exhausted, and so very much in pain. "I c-can't!" she cried, shaking her head again and choking out a small sob. Her shoulders shook as she fought to hold herself up and she looked up at Averie with pleading blue eyes. "You go on…you can win. I'll distract Kain for you. Please, just leave me, don't let him go home." She surprised herself at how hateful she sounded, so quick to want Kain dead. It made her stomach hurt.

The young woman pursed her lips and looked at the redhead for a long moment before she silently stood up and walked away from her.

Renata laid face down on the ground and cried, the sound echoing around the empty arena. Kain couldn't have been far behind her, and she knew he was probably running towards her now that she was so vulnerable. She had tried to hang on, but it was so hard! The arena had worn her down and left her this exhausted, empty body. It seemed nicer to die than to endure anything more by the hands of the Capitol. Although, Kain was not keen on mercy, so he would probably drag out her death as long as he could.

Her cheek began to sting with the frigidness of the snow and she sniffled, not even bothering to wipe the mucus dripping from her nose. She frowned when suddenly the tremors in the ground began again, feeling much different and much stronger this time. They became so powerful that Renata dug her hands into the ground to attempt to keep herself steady, and only upon hearing a scream did she look up.

Averie was running back towards her, and behind her was a sea of snow cascading down the slope right towards her. "Get up! Run!" she screamed over the roar of the avalanche.

She forced herself up off the ground and began to move back down the slope as quickly as she could, panting heavily as she forced herself to run faster. Kain had turned on his heel and fled, and a cannon boomed suddenly, announcing the death of Xavier. In a matter of seconds, Averie was running along beside her, fear evident in her wide eyes. The avalanche was at the girls' ankles and it swept them both off their feet, carrying them down the slope at a pace faster than their fleeing had been. Renata cried out in pain as she was tossed and turned, using her arms to try and keep herself upright. She could see Averie fighting to do the same and terror gripped her heart as the young woman disappeared from sight all together. The snow seemed to suck at her body, trying to pull her down to great depths and keep her there. She flailed her arms and kicked her legs with as much strength as she could muster, gasping for breath when the snow stopped carrying her altogether. There was snow covering her head and she knew she was stuck, but not how deep below the surface she was. A cannon sounded and Renata swallowed. Had it been Averie, or Kain? Even so, that meant that there were only two left surviving. And if they didn't get a victor soon, she knew that the Gamemakers would bring out something even worse than an avalanche.

Renata slowly began to try and move her arms, whimpering at the pain in her shoulder. Her pack had been ripped off of her shoulders in the event and now she had nothing to use when she found who awaited her above. She spit a little and then grinned when it ran down her chin. She was right-side up, thank God. Using her arms in a swimming motion, she began to try and dig her way out to the surface, gasping when sunlight suddenly came pouring in and momentarily blinded her. She opened her eyes when a shadow cast over her and her heart stopped as she saw Kain bending over the hole and peering down at her.

"There you are, Rini. I was afraid that the last cannon had been you… You look stuck, do you need some help?" he grinned in excitement, a certain glimmer of bloodlust in his eyes.

She remained silent as he knelt down and began to dig her out of the snow, reaching her in no time at all and then he slipped his hands under her armpits and lifted her out onto the surface with ease. Her blue eyes were wide as he stood up and towered over her, looking even more frightening than he had when she'd last seen him. That seemed like an entire life ago now.

"Kain," she whispered, tears welling in her eyes. It had come down to the two of them, and there was no way she could defeat him when she had no weapon to use.

"Shhh," he murmured, taking a step toward her and looking down into her eyes. She thought for a moment that he was going to lean down and kiss her, but he instead kicked her hurt leg right out from under her and she fell to the ground with a loud wail of pain. He was on top of her in a second; reaching for a deadly looking knife he had kept on his belt.

Renata struggled underneath him, trying to get him off of her, but he had her shoulders pinned down. Remembering when she trained with Finnick, she leaned up and brushed her lips against his, thinking maybe it would work a second time. The hilt of his knife met her temple and she saw stars for a moment, blinking them away weakly. "Please," she whispered, not knowing exactly why she was begging to be spared. It was no use. Kain would kill her and go home a hero, like he had always dreamed of.

"I can't decide where to start," Kain murmured, dragging the blade across her paled cheek and drawing blood. "An artist needs his inspiration," he imitated Caesar's words during Renata's interview and a cold smirk pulled up his lips when she blurted out a pathetic cry. "Shh, don't cry. I'm giving you a new look is all, Rini. How do you think they'd like you with no ears? All your fingers and toes hacked off?"

Renata whimpered and she turned her head away from him, tears mixing with the blood on her cheek. She blinked and saw a thick needle sticking out of the surface of the snow. It couldn't be…

"Or wait," Kain muttered, turning her head back so he could look at her again. He grinned and nodded. "I'll bring back a souvenir for your dear dad…" He held down her head with his arm and brought the knife directly above her right eye. "Stop moving," he spat, bringing it down closer and closer.

Renata tried to get out of his firm hold, but it was no use. She screamed louder than she ever had before in her life as he began to cut her eye from her socket, feeling a pain like never before course through her. She couldn't move even if she tried and Kain was moving incredibly slow, making sure she would experience as much pain as possible. Tears and blood streamed down her cheeks as he made careful work to get her eye out intact. She couldn't endure his torture. Even if she was still alive after he took out one eye, she couldn't go through anything else. She wanted to die; she wanted the pain to be over. She screamed again and again as he stuck the end of his knife into her eye and began to tug it from the socket, vomiting all over the both of them as he severed the nerve.

As a last chance effort, she reached out towards the ice pick sticking out from the snow and grabbed it. It came out of the snow easily and with one swift, hard movement, she thrust the needle right through Kain's neck, feeling his warm blood spurt out and mix with the blood on her face.

His own brown eyes were wide with surprise and his arms fell weakly to his sides, looking at Renata for what seemed like an eternity before he fell off of her and made a choked sound before breathing his very last breath.

Renata could barely register the sound of the cannon sounding and then someone's voice speaking. She closed her eyes and finally went unconscious, the snow around her stained with her and Kain's blood.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present the winner of the 73rd Hunger Games…"


	14. Chapter 14

"Seger? Could you come outside with me for a moment?"

He blinked and stood up, looking back towards the closed bedroom door before following the medic outside. The air was warm and light as the sun began to set, and as he licked his lips nervously, he could taste salt.

"You have a daughter," The medic smiled at him, but it was strained. He sighed as the man gave him a look for him to go on and he wiped his hands on his white pants. "Your wife is hemorrhaging…we can't get the bleeding to stop, and she's already lost so much blood with the delivery."

Seger's face was stoic as he slowly absorbed the news, hearing his heart pound in his ears. "There isn't anything that you can do?" He asked very quietly, hearing a tiny cry from inside the house.

"I'm very sorry. She doesn't have much time left, but she's happy. You should be with her when she passes, Seger," he reached his hand out and patted his shoulder. "It's best if she doesn't know. So she can enjoy what little time she has left."

He nodded and swallowed, watching the man walk off before slowly turning to head back inside. The wooden floor creaked as he walked across it and he paused for a moment outside the closed door before going inside. "Irina?" He asked quietly, going over to the bed and swallowing when he saw how paled her skin was.

She smiled up at him, fatigue evident on her face. "Come look at her, Seger. She's beautiful…" In her arms was a runt of a baby, a mess of red curls on her head and her tiny ruby lips in a pout. "She's the most beautiful lady in all of Panem…"

Seger swallowed as he watched his wife coddle their child, her hands stroking the baby's cheeks and soft curls. "She looks like you," He whispered, a lump forming in his throat. "Good thing…I was worried she'd come out bald."

Irina's soft laughter filled the room and she reached out to hold Seger's hand. "What should we name her, darling? Should we give her your mother's name?"

"What about your name?" He asked softly, kissing her hand and pressing it to his cheek.

"I think it would be a bit confusing if we had two Irinas around the house," she laughed and looked at the child in her arms. Her breath hitched as she looked right into the baby's eyes and she stared right back, her grey-blue eyes so wide and curious. "Renata," She whispered after a moment, feeling tears sting at her eyes. "My little Renata…mama loves you. Daddy loves you too, don't you daddy?"

Tears were rolling down Seger's cheeks as he watched Irina hold their daughter, able to tell that she was becoming increasingly weak. "I do," he whispered, nodding and swallowing back a bigger onslaught of tears.

"Oh, dear," she whispered, looking at her husband with tired but tender eyes. "I feel like crying too, but everything is alright now. She's here now…" She yawned and her arms trembled as she struggled to keep ahold of Renata. "I'm so tired. I think I'll rest a while before dinner, is that alright, love?"

He nodded, afraid that if he spoke he would only sob. He stood up and helped her lie down, taking Renata from her arms.

"Wait! I want to keep her by me," she pleaded him with big blue eyes. She smiled as he nodded and carefully placed the child beside her and helped her to cradle her against her side. "There we go, that's better, isn't it?"

Seger swallowed and he smiled weakly, bending down to kiss Irina's paled lips very softly. "I love you, Irina," he whispered, stroking her red hair with his calloused fingers.

She smiled up at him, her eyes feeling so heavy that she couldn't help but let them close. "I love you too." She murmured quietly and laid her head on the pillow, her even breaths turning ragged.

* * *

"Daddy, are you going to ride the boats?" Five year old Renata bounded after her father, tugging at his hand. "Can I come? I want to go sailing, daddy!"

"No, Rini, not today," He muttered, taking his hand away and sitting down on the bench by the front door. He grabbed his boots and sighed as she tried to help him put them on his feet, her lips pursed in concentration. "Come on, child, you're going to make me late…then you'll really be sorry."

"Daddy? How come Cora has a mama and I don't?" She asked suddenly, catching him off guard.

He studied her wide eyes and bit his lip, unable to help but notice the resemblance between her and her late mother. "Your mama is dead, Rini. You knew that."

"But why is she dead?" She pouted, her small hands resting on his knees.

"She died after giving birth to you," He muttered, lacing up his boots. "You killed her."

Her lower lip quivered as he stood up, "I didn't mean to." She raised her arms up for him, but he brushed past her and unlatched the door, opening it and letting a patch of sunlight in the house.

"Don't get into trouble, you hear? Stay in your room and play, and if you're hungry, there's some bread in the cabinet." He closed the door behind him without another word and left the small girl alone.

* * *

There were quiet voices coming from behind Seger's bedroom door. Nine year old Renata sucked at her lower lip as she stood outside the door, hearing strange noises. Was someone crying? A woman?

"Daddy!" She cried, hitting the door with her palms. She sniffled when the door opened and Seger stood naked in the doorway, his face red with anger. "I'm scared. What are you doing?" She whispered, peeking further into the room and seeing a woman sitting up in bed, clutching a blanket to her chest. "Who is she?"

"Renata, go to your room and go to bed. Do you want to get punished?" Seger hissed through gritted teeth, his face so angered that it was scary. He pointed her in the direction of her room and she slowly retreated towards it, turning back to look as the door closed and the noises started up again.

* * *

Renata blinked as there was a knock at the front door. She cautiously opened the door a crack, seeing a man she didn't know standing outside. "Yes, what is it?" She asked.

"You're Seger's daughter, right?" He asked, taking off his hat and swallowing.

She nodded and opened the door more, biting her lip when he kneeled down in front of her.

"Renata?" The big man kneeled down in front of her, a strange look on his face. "My name is Cecil… I was on the boat with your father..."

She nodded slowly in understanding but stayed quiet, those blue eyes expectant.

"We were out at sea when the storm hit us," Cecil chewed on his lip, his heart breaking for the young girl. First her mother and now her father, the poor dear… "We were caught in the middle of it, and a wave overtook us. We lost the cargo," he explained, choosing his words carefully. "Your dad's leg got caught and he got pulled over with it…he drowned, Rini... I'm so sorry..."

Renata blinked as she slowly took in his words, feeling a pit grow in her stomach. Her father was gone? Tears welled in her eyes and she sniffled, burying her face in her hands.

"I'm so sorry," Cecil swallowed, setting his big hand on her shoulder. "I want you to come live with me and my family, okay? You don't have to be alone…"

* * *

"Oh, look, she's starting to wake up," One of the medics murmured, motioning to the screen that showed various readings on Renata. "One of you go find Finnick. He'll rip us a new one if she wakes up and he isn't here for it…" He watched another medic leave the observation room to call Finnick and he glanced at the screen that monitored the functions of her brain. She was certainly having some odd dreams. They seemed to be memories, and he pursed his lips as he thought of how rough this girl seemed to have had it since she was a little girl. He looked up through the window into the hospital room, seeing her hooked up to various machines and the bandage over her eye. She was strong enough to win the games, so he hoped that her life would take a turn in a more positive direction now…

He looked up as his co-worker walked in, "You find him?"

"He was already on his way in," He replied, motioning to the door that slid open into the room.

Finnick slowly walked over to the bed, chewing on his lip as he watched the sleeping young woman. They said she'd finally wake up today, that they could reduce her dose of morphine enough to bring her out of the coma they'd put her in to fix her up. His warm hand slipped with hers and he swallowed, looking up at her face. A white bandage covered her eye that Kain had cut out of her head, protecting the new eye they'd grown and surgically put back into the socket. It would be as if she'd never lost the old one, the doctors had said.

His heart skipped a beat as the young woman made a soft murmur, her eye fluttering behind its closed eyelid. Slowly, it opened and blinked a few times. "Rini?" He asked in the gentlest voice, holding onto her slender hand with both of his.

She looked around the room with her uncovered eye, as if she were searching for the owner of the voice. After a moment, she looked right into Finnick's face, and relief washed over her. "Finnick," she croaked, feeling a lump form in her throat. Her mind was in a deep fog from the morphine, but she could remember what had happened. She won the Hunger Games. Tears welled in her eye and began rolling down her cheek; she was so happy and relieved to be out and alive and in one piece, for the most part.

"It's alright," Finnick whispered, moving up to her face and pressing his lips to the skin between her eyebrows, He let his lips stay there for a long moment as she wept, clutching her hand in his and rubbing the back of it with his thumb. "You're going to be okay…I told you you'd win, didn't I?" He smiled and gently brushed one of her tears away.

She nodded and swallowed, raising her hand to the bandage over her eye. "Wh-what is—"

"They fixed everything. You're in for a surprise when they take the bandage off. Supposedly you'll look completely normal. But I'm not sure if they mean normal by our standards, or by Capitol standards." His mouth turned up in a smile, growing wider when she gave a weak little laugh.

"Do we get to go home now?" She whispered, looking around the blindingly white room.

"After the crowning, we're home free. You'll get to see Cecil and your family again…you'll live in Victor's Village with them and have everything you could ever want."

"And you'll be there too?" Renata asked, looking up at him hopefully.

Finnick smiled, nodding, "Yes, I'll be there too."

"Promise you won't leave me alone?"

"I promise."

**Alright, so this chapter i wanted to give a little glimpse into what it was like for Rini growing up! And of course, the reunion :3 I hope you liked this chapter and I'll try to get to the next very soon! Please review and thank you very much for your support! :D**

**-Kelsey :3  
**


	15. Chapter 15

A ringing jolted Finnick out of sleep. He was alone in bed for once, now that the Games were done with. He would get to go home for a month or so before returning to the Capitol for a week of carrying out his duties. He squinted at the clock as he shuffled across the floor and picked up the phone, yawning before he answered.

"Hello?" he murmured, rubbing his tired eyes.

"Finnick? She's doing it again," the medic answered at the other end of the line. "She didn't see her reflection or anything, she just woke up screaming."

He scratched his head and grunted quietly as he reached for a pair of discarded pants. "Okay. I'll be there in a minute." He hung up and finished getting dressed before heading out of his apartment and heading towards the hospital.

_"Alright, miss Renata, let's take off your bandage."_

_ Finnick watched as the doctor slowly took the gauze off her face and he raised his eyebrows at the state of her new eye._

_ "Does it...does it look okay?" Renata asked worriedly, blinking and holding her palm over her left eye to see how the new one worked. "Wow. Everything looks so-"_

_ "Enhanced?" the doctor asked with a smile. "Yes, it may take some getting used to. But I assure you, miss, it looks completely natural. And very lovely, if I may say so."_

_ Finnick smiled when Renata looked over at him for approval and he nodded. "Very lovely," he echoed._

_ "Do you want to see for yourself?" He smiled bigger and held up a mirror for her._

_ Her heart thudded in her chest as she looked at her reflection. Indeed, she looked no different than she had before the accident, but there was something that didn't feel right, didn't look right. Her eye was empty. Dead. They'd given her a dead person's eye. A scream welled up in her stomach and exploded from her throat, making the two men jump. She thrust her arms forward, forcing the mirror out of the doctor's arms, and sent it flying against the white wall, shattering it into tiny pieces on the floor._

_ Arms restrained her as she struggled, screaming in terror and clawing to get away._

_ "Get it out!" she pleaded, grabbing towards her eye and screaming louder when Finnick grabbed her wrist and pinned it down. "Get it out, please!"_

_ "Get me the morphine," the doctor muttered to one of the people that rushed in at the start of the attack. "Hold her arm." He gritted his teeth and stuck the needle into her arm, watching as the liquid slowly entered her bloodstream. Her fighting stopped almost immediately and her limbs relaxed._

_ Finnick's eyes were wide as he let Renata's arm fall to the mattress and he swallowed, looking over at the doctor questioningly. The young woman gave a quiet whimper before she drifted off, her breaths even. "What happened?" he asked, his heart racing._

_ The doctor pursed his lips and shook his head. "I don't know. We'll keep her under for now, but she needs to get weaned off the morphine. She can't be a mess for the crowning."_

Renata's screams could be heard as Finnick entered the hospital and he walked quickly to the room where she was being kept. They'd stopped giving her medicine a week ago, in preparation for the crowning. She'd woken up screaming every night since then. He swallowed as he walked into Renata's room, seeing her strapped to her bed like a lunatic. Her eyes were closed as she wailed her head off, tears streaming down her red cheeks. The screaming didn't bother him as he crossed over to her and held her face in his hands.

"Renata," he said firmly, licking his lips. "Rini, listen to me…it's only a dream. It can't hurt you, you're alright. Open your eyes, darling. Open your eyes…" He grazed his lips over her wet, closed eyes and exhaled softly.

Her cries quieted down to soft whimpers and then to hiccups as she slowly opened her eyes to look at Finnick. "It was a dream," she whispered, her lower lip quivering.

Finnick smiled and nodded, brushing his knuckles against her cheek. "You're alright. We're both alright."

She nodded and took a shaky breath, swallowing. "I don't want to be in this stupid hospital anymore. I-I can't breathe…"

He pursed his lips and looked towards the spot where the doctors were watching them and then back at Renata, at the straps that held her in bed. "Then let's get you out of here," he said softly, reaching to free her from the straps. He stood up and reached for her hand when they were all undone and he smiled as she swung her legs off the side of the bed and inched them towards the floor.

"Are you sure we can do this?" Renata asked worriedly as Finnick helped her to stand up and she wobbled a bit, having not stood up in quite a while.

"No, but I'm doing it anyway. You need to get out of bed and back in front of people," he murmured, tossing a look back towards the men. "So you'll stay with me until crowning."

The doors opened for them as they left the room and headed down towards the exit, and Finnick was pleased when no one stopped them. So they agreed with him! He led her by hand down the empty streets of the Capitol towards his apartment, glancing back at her every so often to make sure she was alright.

"This is where you live?" Renata asked quietly as Finnick closed and locked the door behind them. The house was decorated in the Capitol's usual garish fashion, but she was thankful that the room was anything but white.

"While I'm here. Just a week out of every month, and then during the games, and even then I'm not here a lot." His sea green eyes followed her around as she checked out the apartment.

Renata swallowed as she ran her hand over a counter top and looked back at him. "A week out of every month?"

He nodded and took a step towards her. "It could be worse, I guess." He shrugged and smiled, taking hold of her hand and pulling her away from the counter. "Let's not talk about that right now, Rini. You need to sleep."

She swallowed again and let him lead her into the bedroom, taking her hand from his. "I don't want to sleep," Renata whispered, shaking her head and looking at him with wide eyes. "I go back when I sleep." She started breathing a bit faster and she clutched her hands to her chest, sniffling. "I don't want to see them again, Finnick. I…I can't bear it."

Finnick shook his head and he took her hand in his. "Rini," he said softly, brushing her hair back from her forehead. "I know it's hard, and it's going to be that way for a while, but…I won't let you go through it alone. You're scared and you're hurt, but I'm here. I won't leave your side all night, I promise."

She looked into his eyes for a long time and then nodded, biting her lip. Her heart didn't stop racing as she laid down on one side of the bed and watched as he laid down beside her. "How long am I going to be like this?" she whispered, the moonlight coming in from the window and illuminating her pale face.

"It never really goes away," he murmured, running a hand through his hair. "It dulls as time passes. It's always there, at the back of your mind." He blinked and realized that he wasn't being very comforting. "But you move on. You find reasons to smile again, people you care about…it's not so bad," he smiled and shrugged. "You're going to be just fine, Renata." His heart skipped a beat when she scooted closer to him and tucked her head up under his chin.

"I'm so tired," she said quietly, breathing in the scent of his shirt.

"You can sleep," he whispered, brushing his knuckles against her soft cheek. "I'll keep you safe." He hoped that she couldn't hear how fast his heart was beating, what with her being so close to him.

There was a long moment of silence, and Finnick had thought that maybe Rini had drifted off. He sighed quietly and nuzzled his cheek against the top of her head, letting his heavy eyes close.

"Good night, Finnick," Renata said very softly, draping her arm over his side.

He smiled sleepily and pulled her closer to his chest, "Sweet dreams, Renata."

* * *

Renata moaned quietly as she stirred awake, slowly opening her eyes to see that she was alone in bed. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and sat up, looking around the empty apartment for anyone. What had happened? She pulled her knees to her chest and laid her cheek against them, closing her eyes for a moment and letting the sun from the window warm her skin.

_"Hey. Rini. Rini, shhh," Finnick whispered, holding her close. "Wake up. Shhh…"_

_ She whimpered and opened her eyes, realizing that she'd been having another nightmare. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and cried against his chest for a moment before slowly beginning to calm down. Her hands loosened their grip on his shirt and she sniffled, pulling her face away so she could look up at him._

_ He only smiled and wiped away a few tears on her cheeks. "I've got you."_

_ "Did I scream?" She bit her lip and swallowed. "Y-you may have some explaining to do to your neighbors."_

_ Finnick laughed and shook his head, "No, no screaming. You started shaking and I started talking to you and you just woke up." His fingers were gently stroking her wet cheeks and when she looked at his face, she felt her heart flutter at his eyes on hers._

_ "Maybe you're a better medicine than the morphine," she finally whispered, smiling. She rested her head back against him and let out a long breath. He was so warm, like she was lying in a sun beam. Her eyes closed and she snuggled closer against him, her hand touching his exposed back._

_ He gave a deep chuckle. "Your hand is cold."_

_ "Sorry," Renata laughed back shyly, starting to pull it away. "You're just so warm."_

_ "No, leave it," his voice was gentle and his chin rested on the top of her head. "It feels nice." His sea green eyes were closed as he laid entwined with the young woman. She was so soft and small in his arms, like a little doll. Everything felt at peace within him; his body and his mind._

_ "Do you still have the nightmares?" Renata asked after a moment, her breaths slow and even, matching his._

_ "Not very often," he murmured. "Every now and then they'll sneak up on me, but the past is in the past. The dead are still dead and I'm alive. I've got other things to worry about than people I've killed." His fingertips went down the back of her neck and he smiled when she shivered. "You know, the quicker you go to sleep, the closer we are to going home?"_

_ She blew a quiet raspberry, making him chuckle._

Renata opened her eyes when she heard a noise from somewhere in the apartment. She slowly got out of bed and left the room, heading towards a closed door.

"Finnick?" she asked as she pushed open the door. Her eyes widened as she saw only a glimpse of his naked body before she turned away with bright red cheeks. Normally she wouldn't have been so embarrassed; nakedness wasn't a big deal. Back home they would swim naked, boys and girls alike, but this was Finnick, and he was another story. "I'm sorry!"

He snorted as he wrapped a towel around his waist, walking past her and shaking his head. "Was that your sneaky way of trying to start a game of I'll show you mine if you show me yours?" he called from the bedroom, making her cheeks turn hotter. He popped his head out at her, that charming, boyish grin on his face. "Well?"

"No," she grumbled, disappearing into the bathroom. She stripped off her clothes and got into the shower, letting the warm water rush over her. A knock came at the door when she stepped out and dried herself with a towel.

"I have some clothes for you, are you decent?" Finnick teased from outside.

Renata wrapped herself in the towel and opened the door, pursing her lips at the man. "Thank you," she muttered, taking the clothes from him.

"Good morning to you as well, you pervert," he winked before she slammed the door closed.

She tossed the towel into the laundry chute and dressed in the simple blouse and skirt before going out back out to face Finnick. "Are you going to tease me for that forever, now?" She raised an eyebrow at him and her mouth watered when she saw the food sitting on the table.

He laughed, motioning for her to go take a seat. "Eat to your heart's content, and if you want something that isn't here, the service button is at the counter." He sat down across from her and began to pile his plate with biscuits stuffed with meat and some with vegetables and other savory delicacies that they could only get at the Capitol. "Salvatore called this morning. He said that everyone knows that you're out of the hospital now, so they're going to start the finishing ceremony business."

Renata cocked her head to the side, her mouth too full to ask any questions.

"That means you'll get prepped again, and they'll finish polishing you up for all the things you get to do before we go home. You'll have your interview with Caesar on how it was in the arena for you," He murmured, taking a drink.

She swallowed, rinsing down her food with some hot chocolate. "Do I have to talk about Kain?" She asked slowly, setting down her glass and grabbing some more food.

"I don't expect that Caesar will ask you anything that would make you uncomfortable. He'll focus on you and what is was like for you, since you won," Finnick smiled over at her.

She nodded and poked around at the food on her plate, wondering what would change in her life. She was a victor now. She'd get to live in luxury back home and never have to want for anything. That wasn't entirely true though, was it? Oh, she hadn't forgotten what getting out alive had meant for her.

"What is it, Rini?" Finnick's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"I'm just thinking about how everything is going to be different now," She murmured, shrugging. "Home is even going to be different. Now everyone is going to know who I am and…I don't know, I was just thinking…"

He smiled at her, his eyes concerned. "It won't be as bad as you think."

She shrugged again and set down her fork. "Is there anything you want? They would always say that victors would go home and have everything they could ever want."

"So, what?"

"Do you have everything you want?" She asked, fiddling with the hem of her skirt.

Finnick pursed his lips, a bit caught off guard. He stared into her eyes for a moment before slowly shaking his head. "No, I guess not." He had plenty of things at home that he needed, a house, food, a boat, but they came at a price. Being forced into prostitution wasn't exactly something he had imagined would happen after becoming a victor. "Why do you ask?" He set down his fork as well and chewed on the inside of his cheek.

"I guess I just don't want to be disappointed when I can't have something that I want," She replied, looking away from his gaze.

**What did you think? I thought I'd better give Rini a break and let her have some quality time with Finnick :3 thanks for reading ! I'll try to have the next one up soon, but my birthday is in 4 days! How about some reviews as a gift? ;)**

**-Kelsey :3  
**


	16. Chapter 16

"Get up! Get up, get off each other!"

Renata slowly opened her eyes, moaning at the blinding light from morning and burying her face against Finnick's chest. The night before had been even less traumatic than the previous, but the two had still stayed up at least an hour after her nightmare talking.

Finnick groaned quietly and stretched, his breath warm against Renata's cheek. "Why the early wake-up call?" he mumbled, turning over and lying face down on the mattress.

Renata laughed and sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes and blinking. She gasped when she saw the person at the end of the bed, his eyes flitting from her to the shirtless man lying beside her. "Salvatore!" she exclaimed, crawling to the end of the bed and hugging him around his shoulders. "What are you doing here?"

He gave her head a little pat, his cheeks a little flushed from her unexpected hug. "Well, do you know anyone better to escort you around the Capitol?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, grinning when she shook her head. "You look well, Rini, I'm glad to see that. It was horrifying to watch what Kain did to you…" He brushed his thumb against her cheekbone and stared at her right eye, pursing his lips.

"It was pretty terrible to go through, too," Renata murmured, shrugging when he took his hand away.

"I can't imagine..." Salvatore shook his head and sighed, looking at Finnick as he sat up and gave a great yawn. "Busy night?"

"Good to see you, Sal," he grinned, his hair hanging messily in his eyes. He stood up and grunted as his body cracked here and there, then walked up to the man. "I'm going to shower. Would either one of you like to join me?" His voice dropped to that low, seductive purr.

Salvatore's cheeks burned bright red and he cleared his throat, taking a step away from Finnick. "No, th-thank you. We've got a schedule to stick to. Fascal will be expecting us, Rini, we need to go."

"So that's a no from both of you?" Finnick whined, his expression changing to that of a kicked puppy.

Renata grinned and patted his cheek, "At least you get to shower yourself…"

He grinned back and wrinkled his nose at her, chuckling when Sal hissed in urgency. "Try not to have too much fun without me," he winked.

* * *

"Miss Renata, I was hoping I would see you again!" Fascal gasped as she and Salvatore entered the door. He bustled over to her and pulled her in for a hug, then held her out at arms' length to look her over.

She blushed a little as he stared at her, not saying a word. Her skin was still stinging a bit from the prep team plucking and waxing and polishing her whole body, but she didn't mind so much.

"Come sit down with me, it's almost time for you to go on, we don't have long to dress you," Fascal said finally, giving her a wide smile and leading her to a chair. He began to apply makeup to her skin, a crease forming between his brows as he did his work.

"Did I give you much to work with?" Renata grinned, laughing when he nodded and blew her a kiss.

"I'm not going to coat you, I'm just showcasing," he murmured, swiping some mascara on her lashes and smiling in satisfaction. "Because you should be dead after what happened in the arena. After what he did to you…" He trailed off, shaking his head. "But you aren't. You're a fighter, Rini, and a survivor. And Panem needs to see that, not a made-up peacock."

Renata swallowed, standing up when he held out his hand to help. She hoped that she'd look like a tough survivor in front of the world. But when she thought about having to watch her games again, in front of so many people, she wasn't so sure she could contain herself.

"Are you ready to see your dress?" Fascal asked, breaking her out of her daze. He smiled at her and motioned for her to follow him. "Come, come…" He led her by hand over to a mannequin and he beamed when she gasped at the dress. The fabric was a rich shade of purple, with silver trim around the bust and waist.

Renata reached out to touch it, smiling at its silky texture. "It's beautiful," she said softly, running her fingertips along the trim. "Can I put it on now?"

"Of course you can! We can't send you to get crowned naked, can we?" he laughed, going around to the back of the mannequin and unzipping the gown. "You'd give President Snow a heart attack!"

She laughed along with him as she undid her robe and let it fall in a pool of fabric at her feet. Like the other dresses that Fascal had made for her, it didn't feel like she was wearing anything, it felt like a second skin. Her breath caught in her throat when she caught sight of her reflection. "Wow," she whispered, turning so she could look at herself from different sides.

"I'm glad you like it," he smiled and watched her look in the mirror. "Is it fit for a victor?"

Renata nodded, turning to face him with a smile on her face. "Thank you," she whispered, reaching out to take hold of his hand. A quiet knock interrupted their moment and they looked towards the sound.

"Who's this?" Finnick's bemused voice came from the doorway. He walked further into the room and stopped in front of Renata, bending down a bit to look at her. "Where's Rini gone?"

"It is me," She laughed, wrinkling her nose at him. "Do I look that different?" She looked at her reflection again, pursing her lips as she examined herself.

"You look lovely," he smiled, his eyes sincere as he met her gaze in the mirror. "Are you ready to be crowned, Miss Kelde? Today's the day. We're going home."

Her eyes widened and she felt her heart begin to race. "I want to go now," she breathed, aching to be back home. She'd never realized how much she loved her district until she'd been taken out of it.

"We're practically there, Rini. Just a few things to do and then the train ride. Are you ready to go?" Finnick asked, reaching his hand in his pocket and pulling out Cecil's token.

"You found it," Renata swallowed as he put it around her neck and she grasped it in her hand. It was still cool against her skin and she couldn't help but smile, feeling a calm wash over her.

"Let's go, you two. They're ready for us," Salvatore smiled at them, waiting patiently by the door.

* * *

Renata swallowed as she sat on a lavish throne on President Snow's balcony, the vast sea of people in front of her roaring with excitement. Her face was projected onto the huge screens, and she was relieved that she looked at ease, because she was terrified on the inside.

President Snow stood up from his seat beside her, having not spoken a word to her, and headed to the edge of the balcony to address the people. It was so strange seeing him in person. He had always seemed like this unreal figure, so powerful and threatening despite his claims of keeping the peace. She blinked and listened as he began to speak, his loud voice filling the place.

"Welcome, everyone, to the closing ceremony of the 73rd annual Hunger Games," he began, raising his hand to silence the cheering. "This year, our tributes had to face the extreme environment as well as one another. Many perished from the cold, and many perished by the hands of determined tributes. This year, we honor Renata Kelde, from District Four." He turned back to look at her and she felt herself turn rigid in her chair at the sight of his snake-like eyes. "We applaud you, Renata, for your bravery, your strength, and your sacrifice," he continued, the corners of his mouth turning up in a slight smile.

She forced a smile onto her face as the crowd burst into applause for her and she waved, feeling a shiver go down her spine from Snow's stare. She shifted slightly in her seat, taking a deep breath to calm herself; it was only a bit longer and then she would be en route to home.

Snow continued his speech and finally stepped back to sit back down, not saying a word to Renata. The screens all suddenly had the footage from the Games on them, and she felt her heart begin to race faster and faster. Seeing it again was torture. It was already fresh in her mind, and to have to sit in front of everyone and look like she was intrigued and even proud of her Games was nearly impossible. Her fingernails dug into the arms of the throne as she tried to stare at the screen without actually seeing what was being shown. She looked downright pathetic compared to the rest of the tributes.

The recaps didn't last for a very long time, and they tended to focus more on what Kain had been doing. Finnick had said that the citizens hadn't been as thrilled with the quality of the games as they had been in the past years. They wanted to see blood being spilled, not people withering away from the elements.

The audience gasped whenever a shot of Renata being chased by the mutt was shown, and Renata gulped whenever she fell through the ice. She pursed her lips when they cut out any footage of Averie saving her and caring for her out and instead cut to the day of the avalanche. The snow swept Averie off her feet and her stomach churned when the sickening sound of her neck breaking could be heard over the landslide. She swallowed, feeling a bead of sweat rolling down the back of her neck, and she couldn't bring herself to look at the screen as Kain crawled on top of her worn down body.

They didn't cut out any parts of footage from the finale, mostly because it was the most significant and bloodiest part of the Games. Kain's spiteful speech rang in her ears and Renata wrung her hands together as her agonized screamed echoed from the speakers. It took all her strength not to clamp her hands over her ears and shut her eyes from the horror of watching her eye being cut from its socket, and for a moment she thought that she was going to pass out. When she looked up from the stone floor, she saw that the recording had stopped and President Snow rose from his seat to speak again.

"This is how we remember our past. This is how we keep the peace throughout Panem. We will say goodbye to Renata tonight, sending her home as a victor," his voice rang out, inciting applause from the citizens. He turned to Renata and motioned for her to rise from her throne.

She barely came up to his shoulder when he stood in front of her, smelling very strongly of roses. Nonetheless, she tried her best to stand strong and tall as he placed the crown on her head, yet again making the audience burst into cheers. A grin spread across her face and she felt her heart flutter with a bit of excitement. It was done with!

"It's a good thing they were able to fix that eye up," Snow murmured in her ear. "I was afraid you wouldn't be very valuable…see you soon, miss Kelde."

* * *

"You did great!" Finnick exclaimed once they were back together. He stopped when he saw the look on her face and he grabbed her wrist, pulling her into an empty room. "What it is? What's the matter?"

"It's not over with! It's never going to be over with, is it?" Renata cried, balling her hands into fists against his chest. "They never stop! They're going to take everything!"

"Shh, it's alright, Rini," he murmured, trying to calm her down. He licked his lips and looked around nervously.

"It's not alright! Don't lie to me, Finnick! You're lying to yourself if you say that everything is alright. Seneca Crane told me what was going to happen to me if I won and I won anyway! I…I wish I would've died!" she exclaimed hysterically.

Finnick grabbed hold of her upper arms and he pulled her to him, kissing her hard on the mouth. He could feel her hesitation, her confusion, as he held her tightly. Slowly, she began to relax and her lips moved with his. The way she kissed told him that she wasn't familiar with it; she was still hesitant and shy. That was alright; he was quite fluent in kissing.

"Finnick," she breathed, breaking away from his lips for a second. Her cheeks were flushed bright red and he grabbed the hair at the nape of her neck, pulling her back for another kiss.

There was a hunger, a desire inside him that grew hotter as he kissed the young woman, and he knew that she felt it too as she grabbed at his shoulders.

A gasp from the doorway made him pull away and straighten up, immediately regretting acting on such an impulse. Luckily, it was Salvatore that stood there, not President Snow.

"They're ready to start the interview," he hissed, looking at both of them with narrowed eyes. "Come on, Renata."

She swallowed and gave Finnick a look before walking to Salvatore and following him out the door. What had the kiss meant? Her head was positively spinning from how quickly things had escalated, and she became so lost in her thoughts that she only realized she was about to go on stage with Caesar when Sal shook her.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he raised an eyebrow at her suspiciously.

"Of course I'm alright," she answered automatically, giving him a small smile as she heard Caesar call her onstage. "Wish me luck…" She walked out from behind the stage and smiled at Caesar when she saw him, reaching out to take his hand.

"Welcome, welcome back, Renata Kelde!" he exclaimed, that mile wide grin on his face. "Sit down with me, dear. It is so good to see you back here, looking as wonderful as ever. You gave us quite the emotional rollercoaster! I know that you had quite a few people rooting for you, and you didn't disappoint! How are you feeling, now that you're out and now that you're a victor?"

Renata smiled at him, feeling like it was only him and not the thousands of people watching. "I feel…relieved. I'm happy that I'm going home," she remarked in her soft voice. "I miss my family…"

The audience ate up every word she spoke, very captivated by the young victor.

"I'm sure they're missing you too, and very proud of what you've achieved," Caesar nodded, patting her hand. "Could you tell us what it was like in the arena?"

"Besides freezing?" she asked with a smile, blushing slightly when the crowd chuckled. "It was unlike anything I'd ever lived through before. I've never seen snow back home…nothing like that. And it was scary trying to survive, knowing that someone could come up and kill you…" She pursed her lips, swallowing nervously. "I wouldn't have survived if Averie hadn't pulled me out of the water. Or if not for all the sponsors that sent gifts; I owe them my life." She looked out into the crowd, searching for familiar faces. Her heart stopped in her chest when she laid eyes on Seneca, who was sitting in a seat right behind Finnick. She licked her lips, finding that her mouth had dried up. "I just…I just want to say thank you. For everything. Thank you for helping me get back home."

There came a quiet clapping sound from somewhere far off in the audience, and slowly people started joining in until the place was full of applause and cheers. She smiled widely and felt tears well in her eyes as people rose to their feet, going wild for her.

Caesar laughed and stood up as well, helping Renata stand and then clapping along with everyone else. "I think that it's time to get this young lady to a train, don't you all? Please come back and see us, we'll miss you!" He laughed, hugging her close. "Be safe."

Renata smiled at him when he released her and she nodded, waving at the audience as she headed towards the exit of the stage. It felt like a huge weight had been taken off her shoulders. She didn't want to think about the Capitol, or Snow, or Seneca, anything that would ruin this moment of relief. She was finally going back.

The trip to the train station was a very colorful whirlwind; people were swarming her to congratulate and tell her how much they'd miss her.

"Rini!" Salvatore called above the chaos, making his way over to her. "I'll see you in a few months for the tour. So this isn't goodbye, it's just…" He sniffled, getting emotional. "Take care, sweetheart."

"I will," she said, muffled by the tight hug he held her in.

"Stay beautiful," Fascal winked and pulled her in for a hug as well. "You'll keep an eye on her for us, Odair?" He grinned at Finnick, who nodded and took ahold of Renata's wrist.

"Don't worry, she'll be just fine," he smiled. "But I think we'd better get on the train before it leaves without us."

"I'll see you soon!" Renata called back to her escort and stylist as she was practically dragged through the sea of Capitol people to the train.

They both sighed heavily when the door closed and they were safely on board. Soon, they left the Capitol station behind and began the journey towards District Four.

Finnick grinned at Renata, who hadn't looked away from the window since the train had started moving. "Are you planning on staying there the whole trip?" He teased her, folding his arms.

She smiled at him, her cheeks turning a bit red when their eyes met. "I guess not. What do you think, can you sweet talk the conductor into going any faster?"

He laughed loudly and shook his head, "Maybe you should be the sweet talker. You're more appealing to the senses."

Her cheeks turned darker and she looked back out the window at the passing landscape. So many things were uncertain now, and what was left of her old life was going to be changed.

Finnick watched Renata, knowing exactly what she was going through. The anticipation of finding out what would change once going home, what the future held. He quietly moved up beside her and took hold of her slender hand. He smiled at her when she looked up at him, her wide eyes filled with uncertainty. "Don't worry," he said, giving her hand a small squeeze.

She nodded and let her head rest on his shoulder, staying quiet still. It was reassuring to know that she wouldn't be alone in her struggle back to normalcy, that someone else that had gone through hell and back would help her. As for what role Finnick would come to take in her life, she wasn't quite sure. The warmth from his hand seemed to radiate to her entire body and she smiled, seeing her reflection in the glass of the window.

Everything was going to be alright.

**I'm very excited to say that this is the end of Disarm! To everyone has read and enjoyed my story, I thank you so so so much! You all have been a huge help in encouraging me to continue and to please my readers :D I'm going to start working on the second installment as soon as I can, and I hope that those who enjoyed Disarm will follow Renata and Finnick in my next story: Undertow.**

**Thank you so so much again, much love! :)  
**

**-Kelsey :3  
**


	17. Hey lookie here!

Hi guys, just wanted to let you know that the first chapter of Undertow is posted! :D

-Kelsey


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